Psychology

Research shows that one in five Australians between the ages of 16 and 85 experience mental illness in any given year. Seeing a psychologist may help.

Psychologists are educated in the science of how people feel, behave and react. They do not prescribe medications but use a number of scientifically-supported tests to determine the mental health and wellbeing of people.

One of the first things you may want to get your head around is how counselling and psychology differ. A lot of people mistakenly think that they’re the same thing because they appear similar on the surface, but this is a common misconception. Counselling and psychology engage different tools and strategies to help their clients.

In therapy, a psychologist will use processes and techniques to help treat their clients. These techniques and processes have extensive psychological research behind them. This process involves finding the root causes of problems and discussing workable solutions. This helps to equip clients with the skills they need for ongoing self-knowledge and self-reflection. In turn, this helps people understand their unconscious triggers, behaviours and thoughts. Counselling can also dig deeper into issues. However, counselling is typically meant for short-term use, unlike psychology. The goal is to help the clients make decisions for themselves and take action to implement these decisions.

There are a myriad of reasons why someone may see a psychologist. High stress, feeling a lack of control or just wanting someone to talk to about problems or issues can be driving factors. A few more reasons include:

• Dealing with anxiety and depression
• Dealing with loss or grief
• Feeling like you lost control or direction
• Feeling alone or isolated
• Having gone through a traumatic event
• Having undergone a large life change
• Relationship issues
• Addiction
• Having negative thoughts or mood swings.