Clinical Psychology vs. Counseling Psychology

Surveys have shown through time that almost half of all applications for psychology studies in the graduate level are either for clinical or counseling psychology. These two predominant fields seem to be shaping the future of psychology for now. However, students deciding to join the herd are dealt with another tough decision – the exact field to specialize in since trying to find information on the difference between these two specializations of psychology might prove difficult and evasive.

Are The Two Fields The Same?

APA has stopped differentiating between the two fields for some time now. The exact reasons as to why APA decided on removing such differentiation is open to debate but it does beg the question as to if the two fields are the same. On the surface, the two fields may look different but digging deeper into the specializations from an academic point of view does bring out many similarities and subtle differences.

The Major Differences Between Clinical and Counseling Psychology

• Size – When it comes to the sheer number of programs being offered at present for both fields, clinical psychology does emerge as the leader but it is to be noted here that counseling psychology courses are steadily increasing in demand.
• Affiliation – Here the term affiliation has got more to do with the treatment methods used in either of the fields. While both match in the use of psychotherapy, clinical psychology is more similar with psychiatry in treating psychological problems with the use of medication and psychiatric methods while counseling therapy mostly depends mostly on the use of non-medicinal evaluatory approaches.
• Location – Clinical psychology branches in schools are always located in the psychology wing or the psychology department but counseling psychology branches may be distributed over an entire campus based on the exact course specifications.
• Employment – Counseling psychologists shall find employment in counseling wings of organizations such as educational, medical and health institutions while clinical psychologists will mostly work within a hospital environment. See Table 1.
• Educational Orientation – Here comes the major difference for students. Those who choose to study clinical specialization shall deal in greater extent with psychoanalytic and behavioral persuasion techniques while counseling specialists shall base their entire education mostly on client centered and humanistic traditions. See Table 2.



• Professional Capacity – This is the most important difference that a student should base their subsequent choice for specialization on. Those who want to work more with the seriously disturbed or challenged patients should prefer clinical psychology while those wishing for more of a teaching, research or psychotherapy post will do better off with counseling psychology.

Is There A Winner Here?

If your ultimate goal is to enter into a researcher’s post or perform activities related with research then you shall have to choose more wisely between the two specializations. While for general licensing and employment, either of the two fields are equally entertained, research grants and mentorships are more based on the particular specialization.

Counseling psychologists shall be entertained better for research into human diversity (women’s studies, homosexuality, gender differences etcetera.) and professional issues whereas clinical psychologists get a better chance at researching into psychopathological populations (posttraumatic stress disorder, autism, personality disorders, chronic mental illnesses etcetera) and hospital settings (neuropsychology, pain management, pediatric etcetera).