What is the difference between a counselling psychologist and a psychotherapist?

A psychologist is someone who has studied the human mind with a view to understanding why people behave in the way that they do. Beyond primary degree level in psychology, there are various specialisms. A counselling psychologist, for example, specialises in helping a person to bring about change using an approach that emphasises a collaborative understanding of the person’s subjective experience, inner world and construction of reality. A psychotherapist, or therapist, on the other hand, is a generic term for a professional who is trained to provide psychological treatments for people. Therefore, a counselling psychologist is a type of psychotherapist. The differences between various types of psychotherapists usually lie in their routes to qualification and the bodies by which they are accredited. The words ‘counselling’ and ‘psychotherapy’ are often used interchangeably, although, usually, counselling refers to shorter-term work that focuses on helping a person with what he or she is experiencing right now, whereas psychotherapy usually refers to helping a person to overcome deeper and more longstanding issues that have their origins in the past.