I often get asked what is the difference between Spiritual Counseling and traditional Psychotherapy. Here is a comparative list taken from the Science of Mind Practitioner Training Workbook, which was compiled by a professional Psychotherapist and a Spiritual Counselor. The purpose is solely to bring clarity and understanding to the differences between these two outstanding modalities of healing.

The Psychotherapist …

• is interested in the client’s pain, fear and anxiety
• is oriented toward healing past wounds to relieve current symptoms
• is oriented towards working with causes to change conditions
• wants to know the reason the client is seeking help
• assesses the client’s weaknesses and strengths to determine what level they should be working on
• assesses the client’s childhood history to look for personality or psychiatric damage that requires treatment or medication
• is interested in developmental / emotional history of the client in the family setting
• is interested in the history of successes and failures
• is interested in the client’s current support system
• is interested in the client’s sense of self or ego strength
• is interested in the client’s ability to accept reality and move through fear
• empowers the client to better adjust to life and live in harmony by assisting them through their fear
• helps the client to uncover and understand their feelings and emotions
• helps clients with their relationship with themselves in order to improve their relationships with others
• helps the client to gain a greater sense of self-esteem
• believes the client is responsible for what they do with life’s experiences
• expresses caring for the client not through sympathy, but rather a compassionate heart
• helps the client to live more in the present moment

The Spiritual Counselor …

• is interested in the client’s emotions as out-picturing of their beliefs
• is oriented toward changing past beliefs to relieve current symptoms
• is oriented toward working with beliefs to change conditions
• wants to know the reason the client is seeking help
• assesses the client’s awareness of spiritual truth to determine what level they should be working on
• assesses the client’s childhood to look for basic beliefs resulting from experience that are still active through the subconscious mind
• is interested in repeated patterns of thought and basic beliefs while growing up
• is interested in growth through challenges whether “success” or “failure”
• is interested in the client’s sense of unity with a Higher Power or Love as their support system
• is interested in the client’s sense of Self as a unique expression of this Higher Power or Love
• empowers the client to better adjust to life and live in harmony by teaching Oneness with / as Love
• helps the client to uncover the hidden belief beneath the feelings and emotions
• helps clients to see Love in themselves and others in order to improve their relationships with others
• helps the client to gain a greater sense of self-esteem
• believes the client is responsible for their own experience of life
• expresses caring for the client not through sympathy, but rather a compassionate heart
• helps the client to live more in the present moment