DabblerWizard
2011-07-22, 01:31 PM
Hey folks.
I decided to write a piece about the different kinds of psychotherapists that are available in the U.S. Some of this may apply to other countries, but I wouldn't know for sure.
This clarification is meant to provide people with a broad understanding of what their potential options are, in case you're thinking about therapy for yourself or someone you care about.
You can expect the views stated below to be significantly impacted by my own interpretations. I am, however a graduate student in counseling, and I've done some significant reading on these topics, since they interest me and have much to do with the field I'm studying towards.
I'm not offering any services or anything like that. This is partially because I don't yet have the credentials to make claims of being a professional of any sort.
However, I'd love to hear about other people's thoughts and experiences with therapists, or if you're in the field, your views on what it means to be X kind of therapist.
Concerning forum rules This thread is not an attempt to advertise any service by me or anyone else. I also am not presenting any professional "advice".
My aim is to talk primarily about psychologists, counselors, and psychiatrists. I'll be mentioning a bit about social workers.
Just to shorten the amount that I write, I won't be mentioning other significant clinicians like marriage and family therapists, creative arts therapists, animal assisted therapists, or psychiatric nurses.
Psychiatrists
Sometimes confused with psychologists, psychiatrists are medical doctors (usually MDs) with specialized training in psychiatry.
Decades ago, psychiatrists used to be the ONLY practitioners that practiced therapy. They were almost all trained in psychoanalysis at that point.
Turning things completely around today, therapy is not part of a psychiatrist's standard training. SOME psychiatrists do practice therapy, but that's largely their personal choice to get even more training, vs. part of their standard fare.
Psychiatrists often prescribe medication, often but not always in conjunction with a therapist. They also provide final consent to hospitalize people, voluntarily or otherwise.
General practitioners, pediatricians and internists who give you physicals, etc. can also prescribe psychiatric medication. They don't tend to have specialized training in psychiatry though. They also don't always mention therapy as an adjunct or alternative to medication.
Psychologists
There are all sorts of psychologists. Most of them do not practice therapy.
The two types that do, include clinical and counseling psychologists. They can have either a PhD or a PsyD.
Debate over the differences between these two sub fields has gone on for decades. A lot of literature ultimately suggests that they have a lot more in common than they have differing them. Both counseling and clinical psychologists are trained to be competent therapists.
Their primary difference seems to focus on the kinds of theories they rely on. In other words, they may think differently about treatment and mental illness and such. This difference is somewhat unimportant since much literature points to the fact that many therapies can positively impact a given concern.
These days, variables like the relationship between the client and therapist have shown to be much more important than type of theory used.
A PhD psychologist can have more training in research than a PsyD psychologist. Though there's some disagreement, both kinds have good training in therapy.
Counselors
Counseling as a field is less known than psychology. It's been around almost as long as psychology (mid 1800s), but it hasn't been involved with therapy as long. Interest and practice started to grow around the 1930s and 40s when therapists of all sorts were stepping away from psychoanalysis.
The primary group of counselors trained to do therapy are mental health counselors. This group used to be divided further into community and agency counseling, but these two have recently been taken on by the broader term (Clinical) Mental Health Counselor.
School counselors, sometimes called guidance counselors, also receive some significant training in therapy, but not as much as MHCs, assuming they don't go for extra training. Typically, educational restrictions prevent them from practicing as therapists in schools, where they primarily work.
There are other sub fields of counseling, but they tend to receive less training in therapy: pastoral, rehabilitation, college, career, etc.
Counselors are trained, certified, regulated, and accredited in all 50 states, like psychologists.
Social Workers
I don't know too much about this group.
Many social workers are not trained as therapists. The ones that are eventually get licensed as Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), compared to Licensed Masters Social Workers (LMSW) who don't do therapy
Historically, the social work movement has been attributed to public service and human helping efforts long before psychology or counseling began.
I'm not sure when its involvement with therapy began.
No research exists (that I could find) to indicate social workers are better or worse trained than counselors or psychologists.
So how do these folks compare?
One noticeable difference involves the necessary degree.
A psychology PhD is both the professional and academic degree, leading to training in therapy, research, and teaching (or therapy and less research for the PsyD). Masters degree psychologists can't get certified to practice therapy, so sometimes they sneak get certified as a counselor or social worker.
For counselors and social workers, the MS/MA/MSW is their professional degree. They need a masters degree to practice therapy. If they want an academic degree, or further training in research and teaching, then they get a PhD or EdD.
Counselors and social workers separate their practice and teaching degrees, while psychologists don't.
I'm not really sure why the degrees break down the way they do. But some people use this distinction to claim that psychologists are better therapists. No research actually indicates that.
In practice, therapists of either type can be awesome and helpful, or terrible and not helpful.
The only clear training difference between psychologists and counselors is that psychologists typically receive more training in psychological testing, using instruments to determine what diagnosis fits, etc.
I hope this was a helpful start. Please let me know what you think.
I decided to write a piece about the different kinds of psychotherapists that are available in the U.S. Some of this may apply to other countries, but I wouldn't know for sure.
This clarification is meant to provide people with a broad understanding of what their potential options are, in case you're thinking about therapy for yourself or someone you care about.
You can expect the views stated below to be significantly impacted by my own interpretations. I am, however a graduate student in counseling, and I've done some significant reading on these topics, since they interest me and have much to do with the field I'm studying towards.
I'm not offering any services or anything like that. This is partially because I don't yet have the credentials to make claims of being a professional of any sort.
However, I'd love to hear about other people's thoughts and experiences with therapists, or if you're in the field, your views on what it means to be X kind of therapist.
Concerning forum rules This thread is not an attempt to advertise any service by me or anyone else. I also am not presenting any professional "advice".
My aim is to talk primarily about psychologists, counselors, and psychiatrists. I'll be mentioning a bit about social workers.
Just to shorten the amount that I write, I won't be mentioning other significant clinicians like marriage and family therapists, creative arts therapists, animal assisted therapists, or psychiatric nurses.
Psychiatrists
Sometimes confused with psychologists, psychiatrists are medical doctors (usually MDs) with specialized training in psychiatry.
Decades ago, psychiatrists used to be the ONLY practitioners that practiced therapy. They were almost all trained in psychoanalysis at that point.
Turning things completely around today, therapy is not part of a psychiatrist's standard training. SOME psychiatrists do practice therapy, but that's largely their personal choice to get even more training, vs. part of their standard fare.
Psychiatrists often prescribe medication, often but not always in conjunction with a therapist. They also provide final consent to hospitalize people, voluntarily or otherwise.
General practitioners, pediatricians and internists who give you physicals, etc. can also prescribe psychiatric medication. They don't tend to have specialized training in psychiatry though. They also don't always mention therapy as an adjunct or alternative to medication.
Psychologists
There are all sorts of psychologists. Most of them do not practice therapy.
The two types that do, include clinical and counseling psychologists. They can have either a PhD or a PsyD.
Debate over the differences between these two sub fields has gone on for decades. A lot of literature ultimately suggests that they have a lot more in common than they have differing them. Both counseling and clinical psychologists are trained to be competent therapists.
Their primary difference seems to focus on the kinds of theories they rely on. In other words, they may think differently about treatment and mental illness and such. This difference is somewhat unimportant since much literature points to the fact that many therapies can positively impact a given concern.
These days, variables like the relationship between the client and therapist have shown to be much more important than type of theory used.
A PhD psychologist can have more training in research than a PsyD psychologist. Though there's some disagreement, both kinds have good training in therapy.
Counselors
Counseling as a field is less known than psychology. It's been around almost as long as psychology (mid 1800s), but it hasn't been involved with therapy as long. Interest and practice started to grow around the 1930s and 40s when therapists of all sorts were stepping away from psychoanalysis.
The primary group of counselors trained to do therapy are mental health counselors. This group used to be divided further into community and agency counseling, but these two have recently been taken on by the broader term (Clinical) Mental Health Counselor.
School counselors, sometimes called guidance counselors, also receive some significant training in therapy, but not as much as MHCs, assuming they don't go for extra training. Typically, educational restrictions prevent them from practicing as therapists in schools, where they primarily work.
There are other sub fields of counseling, but they tend to receive less training in therapy: pastoral, rehabilitation, college, career, etc.
Counselors are trained, certified, regulated, and accredited in all 50 states, like psychologists.
Social Workers
I don't know too much about this group.
Many social workers are not trained as therapists. The ones that are eventually get licensed as Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), compared to Licensed Masters Social Workers (LMSW) who don't do therapy
Historically, the social work movement has been attributed to public service and human helping efforts long before psychology or counseling began.
I'm not sure when its involvement with therapy began.
No research exists (that I could find) to indicate social workers are better or worse trained than counselors or psychologists.
So how do these folks compare?
One noticeable difference involves the necessary degree.
A psychology PhD is both the professional and academic degree, leading to training in therapy, research, and teaching (or therapy and less research for the PsyD). Masters degree psychologists can't get certified to practice therapy, so sometimes they sneak get certified as a counselor or social worker.
For counselors and social workers, the MS/MA/MSW is their professional degree. They need a masters degree to practice therapy. If they want an academic degree, or further training in research and teaching, then they get a PhD or EdD.
Counselors and social workers separate their practice and teaching degrees, while psychologists don't.
I'm not really sure why the degrees break down the way they do. But some people use this distinction to claim that psychologists are better therapists. No research actually indicates that.
In practice, therapists of either type can be awesome and helpful, or terrible and not helpful.
The only clear training difference between psychologists and counselors is that psychologists typically receive more training in psychological testing, using instruments to determine what diagnosis fits, etc.
I hope this was a helpful start. Please let me know what you think.