A convenient metaphor can be used to show the difference between psychotherapy and related fields of applied psychology.
For example, a boy was born with a dislocation of the pelvic joint and has been limping for fifteen years. In the summer at the dacha, he made friends with a cheerful guy who was fond of hurdling, he looked at him, confidently said that it was a dislocation of the pelvic joint, all this is now being treated and gave the phone number of an orthopedist. The young man was on fire with the idea not to limp. Yes!
It is counseling and motivation. Analogue — high-quality advertising.
The young man turned to an orthopedist, he underwent surgery, the joint was adjusted. Hooray!
This is surgery. Should this be called psychotherapy? Serious doubts. Therapist and surgeon are very different professions. The surgeon is hard and cuts to the quick, the therapist heals and works gently. The word «psychosurgery» would fit, but it is unlikely to take root.
After the operation, to relieve pain and speed up healing, the young man attended physiotherapy and massage.
It is a therapy, a cure. The analogue in the life of the soul is psychotherapy.
Now the young man may not limp, but for fifteen years he has become accustomed to walking crookedly, limping. He turned to a specialist in beautiful gait, he distracted himself from the girls from the podium, worked out with a young man, corrected his crooked gait and gave him a good, correct, free gait. Wow!
It was a gait correction. An analogue in the life of the soul is psychocorrection, a kind of psychological training. An analogue in the life of a machine is adjustment, adjustment.
Before that, the young man was often sick because he ate anything and led an unhealthy lifestyle. And then he felt the prospects: he began to go to bed on time, eat normally, healed his teeth and began to douse himself with cold water …
This is a healthy lifestyle. An analogue in the life of the soul is mental hygiene. An analogue in the life of a car is regular maintenance.
The young man already walks beautifully and freely, but there is no breath, it is hard for him to run. The young man began to drink vitamins, swim in the pool and engage in a group of general physical training. Soon he was in good shape. Super!
This is recovery. An analogue in the life of the soul is the strengthening of mental and personal health, passive and active personal growth. An analogue in the life of a car is the use of oil additives, refueling with better fuel.
The young man came to the coach and took up hurdling. The coach put him on the technique and prepared for the competition. Wow!
This is sports training. An analogue in the life of the soul is the development of personality, a kind of psychological training. An analogue in the life of a car is tuning.
If we teach a person new skills, new behavior, form new habits in him, this is psychological training.
If we wean a person from bad habits, we put new, more adequate and effective ones in place of old, erroneous reactions to them — this is retraining, this is psychological correction, in pedagogical language — re-education.
If we do something with a person (we rummaged with something inside him), as a result of which his behavior became more adequate and effective, but this was not training — this is not psychocorrection, but psychotherapy. We cured him of bad behavior.