Counselling can be described as a talking therapy where a therapist listens to an individual with the aim of assisting the person deal with emotional issues. Through counselling, individuals are able to cope up with situations such as metal issues, an upsetting physical condition, and difficult life events such as relationship break up or loss of the loved ones, difficult emotions among others. In acquiring counselling services, individuals can choose either institutional-based counselling or community-based counselling. Differences between the two practices occur in terms of place of setting and reach to individuals among others. Despite institutional and community-based counselor having differences in the place of setting and access to medication, they also share similarities in terms of costs and qualification requirements.
Differences
Institutional-based counselors are mostly situate in hospitals or organizations that are basically intended to provide counselling services. It is worth noting that institutional based counsellors have an advantage of providing their services with the readily available medical services such as drug prescription and diagnosis of disorders that requires thorough therapy among other psychological services ( Malone et al., 2015). On the other hand, a community-based counsellor focusses on the provision of counselling services next to the community where individuals can be easily reached; patients can visit their counselor in a private setting ( Lazarus & Baptiste, 2009) . This role of community-based counselors to the associated region allows the psychologists to be widely involved in the happenings of the community, which makes him or her to know a wide range of social behaviors within the community unlike institutional-based counselor. As a result, community-based counselors gain many skills in dealing with patients. In addition, community-based counselling, psychologists do not have an access to medication as it is seen in institutional-based counselling. This is because they private places where they operate from do not have legal authority to prescribe drugs to patients.
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Additionally, community-based counselors are determined in counselling both individuals and the community as a whole ( Lazarus & Baptiste, 2009) . For instance, community-based counselors can obtain an appointment to provide counselling services to a large number of individuals in places such as schools, business centers, or even in hospitals. On the other hand, institutional-based counselors commonly provide therapy services to places where they are affiliated. Patients need to travel from their area of residences to institutions such as hospitals where psychologists are located. Besides, in community-based counselling, patients who do not like waiting for hours in large waiting rooms, which are most found in institutional-based counselling, can be more comfortable.
Similarities
Despite differences in practical setting of institutional-based counselors and community-based counselors, they both have the needed knowledge in assisting patients tackle their situations ( Russell et al., 2016) . From both settings, a person can obtain therapy services, which can positively influence his or her life if it was addressed in a precise manner. Besides, the cost of acquiring services from both community-based counselors and institutional-based counselors in a for-profit hospital is almost the same. Nevertheless, the requirement for one to qualify for a counselor position in both setting they need to have an undergraduate degree in Psychology or Counselling accompanied by a master’s degree in psychology related courses ( Russell et al., 2016) .
Conclusively, institutional-based counselors and community-based counselors have both similarities and differences. Whereas institutional-based counselors are able to incorporate drug prescription and disorder diagnosis using medical equipment, community-based counselor do not use medication in their practice. Noteworthy, community-based counselors associate themselves with individuals as well as the whole community, which is not experienced by institutional-based counselors. In spite of the differences, the both institutional-based and community-based counselors charge clients the same cost and they pass through the same qualification requirement.
References
Lazarus, S., Baptiste, D., & Seedat, M. (2009). Community counselling: Values and practices. Journal of Psychology in Africa , 19 (3), 449-454.
Malone, D., Ridgeway, K., Nordon-Craft, A., Moss, P., Schenkman, M., & Moss, M. (2015). Physical therapist practice in the intensive care unit: results of a national survey. Physical therapy , 95 (10), 1335-1344.
Russell, H. F., Richardson, E. J., Bombardier, C. H., Dixon, T. M., Huston, T. A., Rose, J., … Ullrich, P. M. (2016). Professional standards of practice for psychologists, social workers, and counselors in SCI rehabilitation. The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine , 39 (2), 127–145. http://doi.org/10.1080/10790268.2015.1119966
