When trying to find a therapist that's right for you, it can be frustrating sorting through the myriad acronyms and vocabulary clinicians use to advertise themselves.
Note: For the sake of brevity, I’ve simplified greatly what the various fields of clinicians are in regards to their training and preparation. Also, state licensure requirements vary state-to-state and sometimes have their own designations and acronyms. This is purely meant to be an introductory primer and not an all-inclusive guide.
I’ve often wondered how the general public goes about finding a mental health clinician. There are some things I hope everyone does before deciding to share intimate details about yourself to a complete stranger. If you were to try and do some research on your potential therapist, you’d find a wide array of acronyms, orientations and terms that can simply overwhelm you.
This is why I think most people just go by word of mouth, “If someone’s good for one person, they’ll be good for me.” That kind of logic might apply for some people, but certainly not everyone. Depression, anxiety, stress, anger or any other mental health issue can be treated by a multitude of individuals several different ways. To increase your odds of finding a clinician who will be a good fit for you, it would be a good start to understand what makes them different. With that, let’s start with learning the various acronyms.
There are a multitude of degree’s and areas of specialization. The most common are: Master’s of Social Work (MSW), Master’s of Science (MS), Doctorate of Philosophy (Phd) and Doctorate of Psychology (PsyD). What’s the difference between these degrees? Well, the MSW and MS are both master’s degrees and are the most common type of therapist you’ll find. Either one is proficient at conducting group or individual talk therapy. The main difference is in their schooling: MSW’s are social workers and MS’s are counselors. There’s been a lot of confusion between the two as the old way of thinking is that because there were so many MSW’s they became the norm. Now, MS’s are becoming more and more popular and for good reason. While social workers can become quite proficient at conducting talk therapy, it is not what they primarily go to school for. For MSW’s, they focus on acting as an intermediary between client and provider putting them in contact with the services they require. They are masters at navigating through red tape and allowing you to understand how various government programs work. Counseling and talk therapy is touched on, but is certainly not the focus.
Now, enter the MS’s. These are individuals who mostly majored in psychology for their bachelor’s and went on to a graduate program specifically geared towards talk therapy. Within the MS degree are various areas of specialization: community counseling, Alcohol and drug abuse (AODA), School counselors and a multitude of others. The main point to take home is that while MSW’s can be quite adept at providing talk therapy, it is not their forte. That is, unless they decide to pursue a specialization after they obtain their master’s. For MS’s, it’s all they’ve known. Post master’s work typically entails additional practice and specialization within their chosen area. For either person to be licensed so they may legally provide therapy, they must obtain 3000 hours post-graduate supervision experience. We’re talking about working for free, or having to pay someone to supervise you, so you can get your hours. The amount of time it takes to become fully licensed often takes upwards of 3 to 4 years AFTER they get their degree. So, as you can see, for someone to take this path requires plenty of patience and dedication to their craft.
A quick side note; while it may seem like I’m not advocating you see a MSW for talk therapy, this is not the case. They can be just as good, or possibly, better than some MS’s. It’s all in what they specialize post-masters and whether they are licensed. To tell if a person is licensed, they’ll have acronyms after their degree. For social workers, you start out as first having your training license or APSW. For MS’s, they’ll have LPC-TL. Once full licensure is obtained, social workers can then use the acronym LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker). For MS’s, it’s LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor).
As for PhD’s (Doctor of Philosophy) and PsyD’s (Doctor of Psychology), while they are typically the only degrees that qualify one to become a psychologist, there are significant differences between the two. Again, both degrees can do the job of the other, but one tends to focus on one area over the other. For PhD’s, the emphasis is on research with the goal of adding additional resources for further analysis and investigation by both academia and those doing clinical work. PsyD’s are a relatively new phenomena that caught on in the 80’s and 90’s as a way of obtaining a doctorate for those that wanted to focus on being consumers of research rather than producers of research. The focus was on testing and diagnosing in a clinical environment. To simplify things, PsyD’s concentrated purely on psychotherapy and diagnosing as opposed to PhD’s who concentrated purely on research. Again, both can do the job of providing psychotherapeutic services to their clients, but PsyD’s primary focus is on the practical application of conducting therapy and testing.
One more thing to mention are Psychiatrists (MD’s). The vast majority of individuals in this profession are not into conducting extensive talk therapy. Typically, they are into providing brief psychotherapeutic interventions. Meaning, they are there to assess your symptoms, diagnose you and prescribe medication that would lessen your symptoms. They get a pretty bad rap for not being very patient when listening to their clients’ needs. Much of this is due to how they make money. For the time it takes to see one client for a talk therapy session, they can see four clients in that same amount of time if they focus purely on providing the right medication and ignoring all the background details. Not all are like this and there are some I know that will conduct talk therapy and take into account the whole person. To break it down simply, Psychiatrists are whom you go to when you need medication. If you need talk therapy, and you will even if you’re on medication, then see one of the above mentioned degree types.
In part II, I’ll talk about some other factors to consider and give a few examples of the other MS’s and certifications one can obtain. Keep in mind as well that I’m merely presenting this as an informational resource purely to give you a basic understanding of the myriad acronyms and vocabulary clinicians use to advertise themselves. Armed with this knowledge, you can be better prepared, and have a better chance, to find the right kind of clinician for you.
Incoming search terms:
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups word origin
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups definition of
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups get a business license
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups business license
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups define
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups business license search
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups business in
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups food
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups a science project
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups part d
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups nc state
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups internet based home business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups legal
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups where do i find
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups recipes
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups html email client
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups a business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups group
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups business license requirements
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups start home based business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups types of training
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups drug treatment
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups money for small business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups money from home
- phd vs msw
- social worker vs psychologist
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups the field
- difference between psyd and phd
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups business in north carolina
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups play on word
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups work from home internet business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups cooking school in france
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups world health organization
- msw vs psyd
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups social
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups home based business work from
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups small business license
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups teenage drug abuse
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups top email client
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups make money online business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups to try
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups management games
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups radio programs
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups games to play online
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups famous food in france
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups free home based business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups business license oregon
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups based business home online
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups this is home
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups application examples
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups definition of society problem
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups find movies
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups how to start a small business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups home business money
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups addition
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups game online
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups best time to visit
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups based business internet
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups locating someone for free
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups play games for free
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups computer games
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups health psychology
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups science project for school
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups psychologist
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups hindi math games
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups own internet business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups make money today
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups free online training course
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups free online training courses
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups management system
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups new business start up
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups society for
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups internet business start up
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups maths
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups opening a small business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups the state
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups legal news
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups society
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups legal job search
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups computer home based business
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups what is the definition of customer support
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups ways to make money from home
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups internet business home based
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups play pc video games online
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups degree in psychology
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups online computer games
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups new computer games
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups employment services
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups gaming news
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups computer part
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups small business association
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups female general
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups home school
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups computer technical support
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups drug rehab in
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups science degree online
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups elementary math problems
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups general health
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups concept
- Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups buy computer part
