There are inevitable areas of overlap between the two, for a start my knowledge and experience as a therapist comes with me to mentoring work. There are also important distinctions to be aware of, an 'at a glance' guide can be found at the end of this page. Psychotherapy and mentoring each come in many different forms, so my comments here are exclusively in relation to how I approach them. 
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Art Psychotherapy is a profession regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council in the UK. My work as a Creative Mentor is something entirely separate, and when we work together in mentoring I am not acting in my capacity as an Art Psychotherapist, and we are not engaging in Art Psychotherapy.  
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If you are seeing a psychotherapist whilst we are working together it might be beneficial to discuss how we ensure our mentoring work is complementary to that process, and avoid any blurring of boundaries. 
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For full information on my psychotherapy practice, see this section of the website.
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For reasons relating to personal and ethical boundaries, potential conflicts of interest, and professional obligations, I am unable to engage in mentoring with people with whom I have previously worked with as a psychotherapist. The same also applies the other way around.
 
If we already know one another in some capacity, it is for us to decide whether working together in mentoring would be appropriate for each of us. The difference with psychotherapy is that I cannot work with people I already know personally, and people who are related or closely connected to people I know.
 
Working together online in psychotherapy is only available to those living in the United Kingdom. Mentoring is available for UK and international clients.
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Mentoring maintains a conversational focus on the themes described in the Mentoring area of this website; Art and Creativity, Spirituality, Nature, Work and Purpose (including reflective practice for professionals). Whilst we all have our work to do in terms of understanding and resolving inner conflicts and pain, this will not be the expressed intention of our mentoring work together.
 
What usually brings an individual to my Psychotherapy practice is some form of suffering or distress, problem, or challenging circumstances, resulting in what we might think of as ‘symptoms’ that manifest in ‘disturbance’ to emotions, thoughts, and behaviour. The primary intention at the start is generally the healing of troubling psychological experience, and navigating difficult life circumstances. The work may then deepen and expand from there, retaining a particular emphasis on healing inner wounds. 
 
In both mentoring and therapy I am concerned with the life of the soul, and how challenges can be guides and openings to depth, meaning, and transformation. Or in other words; the lifelong task of becoming who you are.  
 
You might decide that you would value the freedom to look closer at whatever may present itself as we go along, in which case Psychotherapy would offer you this opportunity. You will find detailed information on the Psychotherapy area of this website.
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In psychotherapy you can express whatever comes to mind at the time, and we will follow the ebb and flow of psyche's weave - wherever it may lead. There is an intentional exploration of the emotions, thoughts, and behaviour, how they are subject to influences from the unconscious (both personal and collective), as well as factors such as culture and environment. Examining the clients relationships to both self and other is also a core ongoing aspect of therapy, but not in mentoring.
 
Part of longer-term therapy, and one of the reasons it can be challenging, is that it involves 'working through' times when the relational patterns and difficulties that exist elsewhere in the clients life (i.e, the reasons for coming to therapy) begin to show up in the therapy itself, rather than only being spoken about. The times when one might feel most like leaving can often be the key moments when it is most beneficial to remain 'in' the therapy. This is also a reason why therapy often seeks to maintain a very consistent routine, so it can be predictable and 'hold' someone through these difficult occasions.

 

At these times as a therapist I might offer an interpretation of the situation, and encourage reflection upon what might be happening psychologically, to help a client see this more clearly, and begin to move beyond a limiting pattern. 
 

During mentoring, I am only thinking about individual sessions as a 'one-off', or if you book a series I will not be looking beyond that. This means that we are not 'staying with' psychological events in the same way, or noticing how relational patterns play out, as the process of relationship develops quite differently.

 

if relevant to our themes you may need to describe various aspects of life which feature in your work, provide inspiration, or present obstacles, but there will be a certain limit to the extent we explore personal problems and difficulties. Mentoring will have genuine depth and healing potential to it, and you are welcome to be open with me about your experiences. 

However, rather than exploring further as we would do in therapy, in mentoring it will be sufficient to allow something to be heard in relation to a theme, and I will gently guide us back towards our agreed intentions for the work if I feel we are moving too far from the scope of a mentoring perspective.     
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In psychotherapy we actively utilise the relationship between therapist and patient by exploring what is going on between us, and how our relating is being experienced in the here and now of the session. This is one of the main ways of finding out about the inner life, personality, and relational patterns of the client/patient. This is not a feature of the working relationship in mentoring.
 
We would also be paying particular attention to how the practical aspects which comprise the ‘frame’ of the therapy (consistent session timings, attendance, the therapy space, the fee and its payment, etc) are also of symbolic significance to the therapy itself. In mentoring we will not be thinking about these elements in the same way as we might do in therapy.
 
Interaction between therapist and client is limited to the therapy session, and correspondence through email for administrative purposes only.

 
In Mentoring the relationship is still professional, but with a different sense of formality to it than a psychotherapeutic one. You are employing me for a particular purpose, and that is to be there for you as a mentor rather than as a friend or any other kind of relationship. However, if there is genuine mutual ground, perhaps in terms of shared interests or work, then the boundaries do not need to be as stringent as they would be in the psychotherapy relationship. I emphasise that any interaction outside the session does need that sense of mutuality, as we both have 'the right to be left alone', so to speak.
 
You can expect me to maintain a high standard of integrity, require nothing from you other than payment of the fee and keeping to other agreed boundaries. This applies to both Mentoring and Therapy.     
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