what credentials for therapist?

[Anonymous]

I think most people who go to a therapist see a licensed clinical social worker or someone like that. When should a person be looking for a clinical psychologist instead? (Or even psychiatrist, but mostly they don't do therapy.)

[Anonymous]

The best credential a therapist can have imo is a recommendation from a fellow therapist. That's how I found good therapists for myself, my child, and my husband.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s more about the specialty of the therapist than the credentials. For example, some LCSW’s have extensive training and certification in EMDR, Brainspotting, etc. I would first look at the issues you want to address and then the experience and certifications the therapist has as opposed to their degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most people who go to a therapist see a licensed clinical social worker or someone like that. When should a person be looking for a clinical psychologist instead? (Or even psychiatrist, but mostly they don't do therapy.)

I'm a LCSW. My therapy practice is pretty general. I work with specific populations and problems but not within a specific therapeutic framework (e.g., EMDR, DBT, etc.). My work is mostly behavioral and doesn't always get very deep or introspective. I don't do a lot of longterm "psychotherapy" type work - more trauma recovery in specific contexts. The psychologist I work with is more academic. She's also trained in art therapy and can do full psychological testing because she was trained in that through her PhD program. The psychiatrist we work with is trained to do enough therapy to have a good idea of what kind of medication will be helpful for a patient. Her sessions are more medical because she is a medical doctor and while I can speak really credibly about the way people I've known have experienced antidepressants or whatever med, she has an in depth understanding of dosage, interactions, etc. that isn't part of my training.

Basically, it depends on what you need. All those specialties can do skills-based talk therapy like I do. I can't do testing or prescribe stuff. Not everyone needs those things, and most of the time, my level is fine.

[Anonymous]

Psychiatrists mostly prescribe meds and ours also does case management when required.

Otherwise, experience and rapport are more important than degree/licensure.

[Anonymous]

Literally anyone can jump through hoops and be a therapist. It's not actually an elevated field.

[Anonymous]

I think it's most important that you and the therapist are on the same page and click (you aren't going to lie or withold information, they aren't going to "ahh" you forever and make no progress). Degrees are meaningless if you don't have the right connection