What is the difference between a therapist and a psychologist? Or a psychiatrist and a psychologist?

Psychologists, therapists, and psychiatrists all can provide therapy or counseling. The primary difference is in their level of training, degrees, certificates, licenses etc.

Psychiatrists are medical providers that specialize in psychiatric issues. So, they are medical doctors, not therapists or counselors.

Psychologists have a doctorate degree, which gives them more training and sometimes more experience than a therapist or counselor.

Therapists and counselors are not referred to as psychologists.

The bottom line is, they all are capable of providing therapy, but each one has a different level of training.

How do you pick a counselor who is right for you?

The short answer is, it depends.

There are many factors, including practical ones like cost and location as well as how quickly they can offer you an appointment time. Reading a counselor’s bio or description will give you a clue as to whether their personality, training or skills might be a good fit for you. Some of them might even be willing to talk to you on the phone for five or 10 minutes to answer a few questions and give you a sense of their personality.

Otherwise, the main way is to simply have a few sessions with them to see if they are helpful and it’s a good fit. The first session is generally a lot of information gathering and background explaining, so it’s difficult to tell if they are going to be helpful or not. Usually if they have good ratings or they are recommended by professionals or other people who have found them to be helpful are good signs that you are on the right track.

What are the benefits?

The short answer is, there are many!

Talking about your issues with someone who has expertise and empathy can contribute significant healing. Feeling understood and seen and having a witness to hear your story can do wonders for your mental, emotional, and physical health.

Sometimes a counselor can diagnose mental health issues that you are unaware of and provide tools and treatment to reduce your symptoms. If medication is needed, counselors and therapists can collaborate with your psychiatrist or medical doctor.

Who should see a counselor?

The short answer is, everyone.

I believe that any willing participant could benefit from counseling, but some people truly need it because of serious mental health struggles that are getting worse or interfering with their basic life functioning. We all need people to confide in, but some people don’t feel comfortable opening up to others or they don’t have friends and family who will listen.

It is important to reach out for support from a professional if you don’t have a support group or if you don’t feel comfortable opening up to people in your personal life.

Some people don’t technically “need “counseling, but they choose to pursue counseling because they want to grow, learn, and understand themselves better. Some people use counseling in a similar way like going to the gym. They use it in a preventative way, similarly to how some people get massages when they are injured and have functional problems.

What age is appropriate for therapy?

The short answer is, as young as three.

Surprisingly therapy can be useful with children as young as 3 or 4 years old using special techniques in play therapy. Children over age 8 or nine years old can handle more traditional talk therapy, but most kids younger than that usually require therapeutic games or play, including art therapy rather than simply doing talk therapy. People over the age of 3-4 can benefit from counseling. Many teenagers, young adults, and older adults find counseling to be very helpful and healing.

How often should you see your counselor?

The short answer, it depends.

Most of my clients meet with me 1-4 times per month. If they are in crisis, sometimes they come to me three times a week at the beginning. But as they progress, they come every two to three weeks. Some clients eventually move to a maintenance type of schedule where they schedule an appointment once every month or two.

What are some tips and advice for how to manage ADHD without medication?

This may need to be an entire episode, but we can provide resources for people to learn more about ADHD.

What is ADHD in a nutshell?

Attention Deficit (Hyper Activity) Disorder, can be very complicated. People that avoid and dislike tasks that require a lot of mental effort and concentration. The classic manifestations of this are procrastination, disorganization, forgetfulness, and sometimes impulsivity.

How can I tell if I have ADHD?

Take an ADD/ADHD checklist online. If you take one of these tests and your results meet the criteria, you might want to consider taking an official ADHD test with an expert or consider a consultation with a psychiatrist as they can prescribe you medication.

What topics are most prominent on your podcast and what is its intention?

An introduction to counseling, providing education and awareness with mental health, sharing favorite advice and cliff notes on a variety of topics, almost like an invisible support group, helping people realize they are not alone, etc.

What are the most relevant mental health conversations that need to be discussed more frequently?

Depression, anxiety.