Therapy and counselling, what’s the difference?

Talking therapies are best to help people with:  

• Clinical depression  
• Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)  
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)  
• Panic disorder  
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)  
• Health anxiety and social anxiety  

For more serious or ongoing mental health conditions, talking therapies tend to be more effective.  

SignHealth provides the only NHS Talking Therapies services for deaf people.

Counselling is generally more helpful for:  

• Bereavement  
• Stress  
• Relationship difficulties  
• Life transitions  

Counselling can be helpful for emotional support only and may not always be suitable for treating diagnosed mental health conditions. 

SignHealth can also offer counselling for deaf people.