What Is Psychology?

Psychology is the study of human behaviour. It involves an understanding of the brain, perception, memory and learning and the ways that people think, feel and react. Psychologists help people function better, whatever their life or work situation may be. Their purpose is to help people identify and understand the reasons that their lives are not working well and to assist them in developing more effective ways of coping. Usually, this involves teaching people strategies to change their own thinking, feeling and behaviour as well as exploring decisions about their lifestyle or current ways of behaving and responding to people or events in their lives.

All psychologists have at least 4 years of university training followed by 2 years of supervised professional experience. It is a requirement that psychologists are registered with the relevant government board in each state. In NSW, ongoing professional development is expected of registered psychologists.

The reasons people visit a psychologist may vary widely. Some people might seek help dealing with trauma, depression or anxiety. Others may want assistance with developing better relationships. Sometimes the life cycle changes that occur in our lives such as children leaving home, retirement, divorce or death of someone close to you places an additional stress on you that can be helped by a psychologist who understands what you are going through and what you need.

People come to psychologists when they have difficult decisions to make and the advice given by well-meaning family and friends leads to confusion rather than clarity. Psychologists are neutral about the decisions you make. Their participation would involve exploring the consequences of various decisions so that you are aware of what might occur once you have decided on a specific course of action. They assist you with the skills that you might need to make a particular decision e.g. assertiveness or confidence about the future.

Psychologists work across a broad variety of areas including career counselling, counselling psychology, clinical psychology, educational psychology, health psychology, neuropsychology, organisational psychology, sports psychology, teaching and research. More recently, some psychologists have undertaken coaching psychology.

Coaching psychologists work with clients using a range of well-researched techniques to help clients reach goals in their personal and business lives. These goals may be concerned with personal or organisational well-being or they might be about more concrete outcomes such as applying for a promotion or passing an exam. As research is showing that between 25 and 50 per cent of individuals presenting for life coaching have clinical levels of emotional disturbance (1), this can pose a serious ethical dilemma for coaches not trained in mental health. The approach used with clients experiencing emotional disturbance is quite different to the goal-focused, fast-paced process that characterises coaching.

Why would you choose to see a psychologist for coaching?

When you decide that certain aspects of your life are not working as well as you would like them to, there can be confusion about what to do and who to see for assistance. The advantages of seeing a psychologist are that if you have a more severe emotional distress than you realised, you can be accurately diagnosed and therapy can be provided. If your unease or distress is related to your life not working well but you are not experiencing a level of distress requiring therapy, then the psychologist can assist you with this as well.

Why coaching?

Skilled coaching in a well-matched relationship provides a number of benefits.

1.      The coaching provided is tailored exclusively to your needs.

2.      It is private and you may feel more able to share your innermost thoughts, feelings and fears without being judged by friends, family or colleagues.

3.      Coaching will challenge you about your blind spots and fears while at the same time help you to be clear about what you truly want and how you might attain it.

4.      Coaching is more wellness-oriented and solution-focused than problem-focused.

Even though there has been a movement towards what is known as Positive Psychology which focuses on wellness rather than disturbance, people’s perception when they come to therapy is essentially that they cannot manage their life as it is now. This can leave them with a feeling of helplessness. When you come to a series of coaching sessions, you are more likely to view yourself as someone who is functioning well but who needs assistance with clarifying and setting goals and with understanding your strengths and weaknesses in relation to attaining these goals.

What is the difference between a Psychologist and a Psychiatrist?

Psychologists specialise in understanding and working with human behaviour. Psychiatrists have first trained as medical practitioners then undertaken further studies in psychiatry with an emphasis on treating severe emotional disturbance. Psychiatrists because of their medical training may prescribe drugs in the course of treatment.

Confidentiality

There are strict legal and ethical codes set out by both the Psychology Registration Board in each state and by the Australian Psychology Society. Psychologists are required to maintain confidentiality and written permission from the client is required before any report on a client can be made to another party.

1. Green, Oades & Grant (2006). Cognitive-behavioural, solution focused life coaching: Enhancing   

    goal striving, well-being and hope. Journal of Positive Psychology 1(3), 142-149

    Spence & Grant (2005). Individual and group life-coaching: Initial findings from a randomised,

    controlled trial. In Cavanagh, Grant & Kemp (Eds) Evidence-Based Coaching: Theory, Research and  

    Practice from the Behavioural Sciences (Vol 1) pp 143-158

For Psychological Assessment, Therapy and Coaching Contact Elizabeth Collins  "In Golden Health's" Resident Psychologist.

Visit Elizabeth's Website Here