AbstractPsychodynamic counselling is thought to be different from psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Yet many attempts to define the differences between counselling and psychotherapy using singular concepts such as the length or depth, at least from a psychodynamic and psychoanalytic perspective, ultimately fail to point up any distinctive differences. As many practitioners recognize, counselling and psychotherapy are on the same spectrum. One possibility is to use personal construct theory to sec what clusters of difference and similarity there may be. This is briefly explained, and pointers are suggested to the potential of such research. The article similarly questions whether there is a significant difference between the terms ‘psychoanalytic’ and ‘psychodynamic'. Their use in the literature suggests that they can be used interchangeably, yet the terms also have a distinct usage. The author concludes by suggesting the distinction may be a useful one to retain, not least because of the associations the terms tend to have.