What is the difference between Lay Counselling and Professional Counselling?

Lay counsellors are trained to provide support for people with emotional challenges and issues or in a difficult life situation, be it bereavement, loss or job, heart break and so on.

Professional counsellors have highly specialized training in different modalities and approaches of working with clients. They typically will have a Masters Degree in Psychology and would be trained in specialized modalities of therapy. Professional counsellors are expected in supervision – where a senior counsellor will oversee their work offline, to ensure that the services provided are of requisite quality and aligned with the client needs. Professional counsellors also are expected to be in their own ongoing personal therapy to deal with their own personal challenges and processes. Professional counsellors are expected to follow the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.