Let’s be real – finding a therapist can be a real pain in the behind. There are so many things to consider, like: What kind of therapist do I need? Who are the therapists in my area? How expensive is it? Do they take insurance? Do they have availability in the next couple months?
What are the different types of therapists?
Let’s review the mental health totem pole, starting with the doctorates:
Psychiatrist: Has a doctorate in medicine (MD) and can prescribe medication for psychiatric issues; sometimes they will also have counseling training and can do counseling and medication management.
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner: A nurse practitioner that specializes in prescribing and managing medication for psychiatric issues. In my experience, these guys will take more time talking to you than your average psychiatrist.
Psychologist: A therapist with a doctorate in psychology (PhD or PsyD or EdD). They do more formal assessments and tend to work with more severe cases of psychiatric disorders. Some are in private practice, some in hospitals or clinics. They typically can’t prescribe medication. But in some states, they can get extra training and become a prescriber.
Let’s move down the totem pole to the Master’s Level Clinicians:
Masters Level Clinician: This designation describes a counselor who has a Master’s Degree in counseling, psychology or social work AND holds a license to practice counseling in a specific state(s).
The licenses can generally be divided between:
- Counseling (LPC or LIMHP or LCMHC etc*)
- Marriage and Family Therapy (LMFT)
- Social Work (LCSW)
For example, I graduated with a Master of Arts in Counseling, and then after a whole bunch of supervised experience, I obtained my designation as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). Then when I moved to Nebraska, my designation became Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner (LIMHP). Same license, different alphabet soup.
*Fun fact: each state can have different designations! Yay! Not at all confusing! (For a full list of each state’s designations, see here.)
Now that we’ve identified the mental health totem pole, let’s talk specialty.
Therapists can specialize in all kinds of issues, like: drug/alcohol abuse, eating disorders, infidelity, grief, trauma, and specific mental health diagnoses.
Therapists can also specialize in a therapy modality (a special way of conducting therapy that typically involves the therapist paying money to get extra training and supervision in this particular treatment) like: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT), and so on.
What type of therapist do I need?
The first question to answer is: are you seeking counseling because of an issue that is centered around you, you and your spouse, your kid(s), or you and/or your spouse and/or your kid?
If you feel like you’re seeking help mostly for yourself, then you should start by looking for a therapist that does individual counseling.
If you feel that you and your partner need the support as a unit, then you can look for a marriage and family therapist.
If you feel that your child is struggling and you don’t know why or how to help them, then a play therapist might be for you.*
If you feel like your whole family needs some system maintenance, than perhaps reach out to a marriage and family therapist.
*Look for someone with a Registered Play Therapist designation. This means that they are either a doctorate or master’s level clinician who has completed many hours of additional training and supervision in the area of child development and child therapy. The RPT is a secondary, national license that can only be held in addition to a state mental health license.
Where should I start the search?
Catholic Therapists.com: A site dedicated to listing contact info on Catholic therapists around the USA. It has an easy-to-use search option, plus a blog.
Psychology Today Find a Therapist: A search engine for therapists all over the USA. You can edit your search based on location, insurance, faith, gender and more. It’s a good starting place.
Association for Play Therapy Find a Therapist: A search engine for play therapists all over the USA.
Tired Parent Club 