Psychotherapy and psychological counselling as clinical and psychological intervention
In the 1970s, there was a wide discussion on the role of scientific psychology in the development of theory and practice of psychotherapy the professional community. This discussion resulted in the creation of the Federal Center of Psychotherapy and Medical Psychology headed by Professor B.D. Karvasarsky. The very name of the center emphasized an inextricable link between psychology and psychotherapy. Besides, a draft law on psychotherapy was created. It postulated its interdisciplinary nature and enabled psychologists with special training to have psychotherapeutic practice. This law has not been adopted yet. Therefore, the role of scientific psychology in the development of the theory and practice of psychotherapy and the possible activity of a psychologist in this area acquires a new urgency. Thus, psychologists try to create the association of medical psychotherapy in addition to the Russian Psychotherapeutic Association, which exists for many years and unites doctors and psychologists. However, the content of the very notion "medical psychotherapy" is still unclear. The paper deals with the notion "clinical and psychological intervention", "psychological counselling", "psychological correction" and their ratio. It represents medical and psychological approaches to the notion "psychotherapy". Besides, it gives different approaches to the term "psychological counselling" The paper deals with the basic features of clinical and psychological intervention (means, goals, functions, theoretical basis, empirical verification, professional actions). They are analyzed in the context of revealing the similarity and differences between psychotherapy and psychological counseling. The paper emphasizes a special role of a theoretical basis for clinical and psychological interventions, which defines the goals and objectives of intervention, the methods and targets of impact, strategies and behavior of a psychotherapist or a counselor, and the specific features of the process itself. The understanding of psychotherapy and psychological counselling as two types of clinical and psychological intervention with different goals and means of impact, different functions varying in duration and intensity and scientific psychology as a common theoretical basis is necessary for further development of psychotherapy and psychological counselling and the efficient training of specialists in this area.