Which Mental Health Professional Do I Need?

These are all licensed mental health professionals who have obtained their Masters in the counseling field and are licensed to perform therapy.  And as we will discover later, that is what they mainly do and who you should seek out if you want therapy.   The licensing is important as then you, as a consumer, may look up the mental health professional on their state’s licensing board and make sure their license is in good standing prior to starting therapy and/or treatment.

For a lot of us, our licensing board is the Board of Behavioral Sciences or BBS.  Their website address is https://www.bbs.ca.gov/  Our license is important as it lays out the parameters of what we can and cannot treat or do as a therapist.   Therapists and the other mental health professionals listed previously are licensed to diagnose and treat mental health/substance use disorders.   

Whether one is an AMFT, ASW or an APPC, this simply means they are still under the mandatory supervision of a Licensed Mental Health Clinician.  They must be receiving this supervision in order to legally provide therapy.  Once an ASW, AMFT or APPC obtains the required hours needed for licensure and passes the required tests, they will then become an LCSW, LMFT or LPPC.  At this point they will no longer be practicing under another the supervision of a licensed clinician and can practice independently.

Therapists may be able to do some basic psychological testing particularly if they’ve sought additional training for that specific test (but for the most part probably won’t) and they can’t write prescriptions for medication.

Okay on to one of the next types of mental health professional and that is a Licensed Psychologist.  Licensed Psychologists tend to provide psychological testing.  Psychological testing may be required if the problem is complex, more serious, or maybe has an increased level of danger involved.  Most therapists should be able to steer you in the direction of a psychologist should the specific situation merit it.  But if you have questions, ask your therapist or primary care doctor for direction.  Psychologists aren’t likely to be providing therapy and they can’t write prescriptions.  As psychologists have completed their doctorate, they will have doctor in front of their name, but they aren’t a medical doctor.  They are licensed by the California Board of Psychology.

Our final type of mental health professional is a Psychiatrist.  A Psychiatrist is a medical doctor and did go to medical school.  Psychiatrists are usually called upon if a medication evaluation is needed.  They will do an assessment to determine if medication/s would be helpful for your particular issues.  They should be able to discuss with you the pro’s and con’s of a particular medicine for a particular concern and discuss all options with you.  And usually a Psychiatrist isn’t going to be providing therapy and isn’t going to be doing psychological testing.  They are licensed by the Medical Board.

So in a nutshell,

if you want therapy-see a therapist

if you want psychological testing-see a Licensed Psychologist (who will be called Dr. So and So)

if you want a medication evaluation-see a doctor/psychiatrist.  A psychiatrist is a medical doctor with specific training in psychological/psychiatric conditions.  You may also be able to talk to you Primary Care Doctor or OBGYN to obtain psychiatric medication.  They may be willing to evaluate you for that or may have you see a psychiatrist, like you would see any other specialist.

A therapist would be the first line in addressing a mental health/substance abuse concern and if the issue is more complicated/severe/dangerous then increasing levels of care may be needed such as psychological testing or seeing a Psychiatrist. 

In general, I would encourage you to obtain services from a “Licensed” mental health professional, such as the examples given above.  You can tell if they are licensed because generally their license number will be featured prominently by their name or on their website.  A licensed clinician will always start with some type of assessment, which is pretty important.  I always say 90% of solving a problem is accurately identifying it, and the above licensed professionals are trained and equipped to do just that! 

I sure hope you have found this helpful!  Please reach out to me and let me know!

Please submit a question to me!  And I may be able to answer it in a future blog post.  You may email me at my confidential email at [email protected] or go to my website https://laurelsheffieldtherapy.com and fill out the contact form to submit your question.