How does counseling differ from cognitive therapies such as NLP or CBT ?

Different therapies are helpful for different matters which have been bothering people. When people undergo therapies, they usually attend counseling sessions where they talk about their problems and do their best to find help. However, these approaches are considered more or less obsolete today. Namely, nowadays, we have neurolinguistic programming and cognitive behavioral therapy, both of which are much more modern and advanced than classic counseling often offering better results.

The Traditional Approach

Counseling uses talking as its main tool for solving problems. Counseling usually does not involve giving advice or any particular direction towards the solution of the problem. Rather, a professional counselor's main job is to listen carefully to your problems and difficulties and reflect on them, helping you understand your situation better and find the cure yourself. Thus, counseling makes you work harder in order to see inside yourself and find whatever may be bothering you, understanding it better and dealing with it more effectively. Usually, people suppress some of their emotions or thoughts, suffering later in life because of this. Through counseling this burden is released and the difficulty dealt with.

Every aspect of counseling is completely confidential, allowing you to trust your therapist and share information about yourself and your life.

Counseling vs NLP & CBT

Both CBT and NLP are constructive methods which do their best to trigger positive changes in certain individuals. Again, mutual respect, support and confidentiality is guaranteed between the therapist and the patient. Cognitive behavioral therapy bases its effectiveness on a belief that all the things we do stem from our subconsciousness and parts of our mind which we do not understand completely. Thus, through modification of our thoughts, we can overcome our emotional problems such as anxiety or stress.

Contrary to counseling, both NLP and CBT will give their best to provide help and relief, promoting your well-being instead of focusing on the underlying causes of your issues. So, you will learn to better your current self rather than to dwell on your former mistakes.

NLP bases its functioning on the fact that our words create our thoughts and vice-versa. Thus, these thoughts affect the way we behave. Therefore, positive thoughts give rise to positive emotions and positive people who deal with difficulties with ease. So, NLP teaches people how to think positively and change their ways this way, being better in communicating with others, forming and maintaining relationships and controlling emotions. All in all, CBT and NLP therapies are more focused on immediate solution and life improvement, being the choice of many who desire to overcome some of their burdening emotional and behavioral issues.