Getting Psychological Help
Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Counselors & Social Workers
Psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, & counselors are the mental health professionals most likely to help us survive psychological pits of despair (disorders).
When you're dealing with a minor meltdown -- a fight with a friend or a bad day at work -- getting psychological help isn't an issue because friends and family sometimes provide enough support to get you through the day.
But sometimes they don't.
Serious mental health issues or psychological disorders such as depression, schizophrenia require professional help. Sometimes even falling into the same old self-defeating behaviors is motivation enough to seek a counselor or psychiatrist. Luckily, getting psychological help isn't tainted by the stigma it once was.
How do you know how to find a mental health professional? This summary of different types of psychological help includes psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and counselors.
Getting Psychological Help: Five Mental Health Professionals
Counseling psychologists focus on problems in daily life. They often work in the community to offer psychological help: hospitals, schools, businesses, clinics, and private settings. They help with relationships, work, grief, and major life stresses. They specialize in a number of disciplines, such as cognitive-behavioral, Freudian, Jungian, existential-humanistic – or a combination of two or three.
Clinical psychologists specialize in more severe psychological disorders such as depression, learning disabilities, eating disorders, and anxiety. They often work as part of a team to offer psychological help -- such as social workers, doctors, and other health professionals. Group, marital, or individual therapies are both offered by most psychologists (in fact, most mental health professionals will work with groups or individuals).
Psychiatrists are medical doctors. Typically, they treat mental and emotional disorders with a combination of prescription medication and counseling therapy. They deal with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder. Getting psychological help from a psychiatrist can involve prescriptions such as antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications.
Clinical social workers often work in hospice, hospital, or out-patient care facilities and focus on the social context of their client's problems. They work with families in most situations to provide psychological help; often the entire family is involved in therapy. Elder abuse, child abuse, family violence, adjustment to illness, substance abuse, cultural concerns, and guardianship issues are all common ground to clinical social workers.
Pastoral counselors are trained in both psychology and theology to help people with mental health struggles or psychological disorders. Often they combine spiritual insights or guidance with problem-solving tactics to provide psychological help. Their fees can be lower than other professionals' as they often work in non-profit settings.
Getting Psychological Help: No Absolute Descriptions
Getting psychological help includes being aware that these descriptions aren't absolute: the roles of various mental health professionals can shift and change. For instance, pastoral counselors may not include theological matters or prayer in their counseling; a counseling psychologist may introduce spirituality if appropriate. Psychiatrists don't always prescribe medication when they offer psychological help, and clinical psychologists often work with schizophrenics or severely depressed clients.
Getting Psychological Help: "Shopping Around"
Getting psychological help also means you may need to talk to a few therapists before you find the right fit. Ask about their style of therapy and theoretical orientation. If you as a client aren't comfortable with, say, a psychiatrist as your therapist, then it's your right and responsibility to seek another source of help – whether it's a pastoral counselor or social worker.
If you found Getting Psychological Help helpful, you might be interested in Finding a Therapist or Twisted Thinking.
