How to choose a Therapist

Let’s begin a conversation about how to choose a therapist and start by clarifying some terms that you may run into in your search.

People often ask us, “What’s the difference between a psychotherapist and a psychologist?”  This question often comes up when people are looking at their Insurance benefits which may reimburse professionals from one discipline and not another.

Psychotherapist is a generic term, meaning that its not specific and it can be done by anyone from any background or discipline. Generally, psychotherapy is provided by clinical social workers, clinical psychologists and psychiatrists. While psychotherapy can be done by may others from diverse fields of study, we will confine our conversation to the difference between these three disciplines.

Think of psychotherapy as a specialized kind of conversation that requires specialized training.  Not every social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist provides psychotherapy.  Most social workers do other kinds of work.  Many psychologists do research or provide testing and most psychiatrists these days are trained in diagnosing and medically treating psychiatric disorders. They are also able to prescribe medication. The term “clinical” before social worker or psychologist means that this particular individual has specialized training to provide psychotherapy.

So this raises the question, “What’s the difference between a clinical social worker and a clinical psychologist for the average person seeking psychotherapy?” The answer is, a lot and not too much.  Let me explain.  Psychologists are trained as scientists.  In their extensive training they spend a lot of energy doing research, studying statistics and doing what only they are specifically trained to do - psychological testing.  They also learn to do psychotherapy.

Social workers on the other come out of different orientation.  Social workers are trained  
to study people in their environment.  Clinical social work is based on helping people to adapt to changes in their family and community. Clinical social workers who provide psychotherapy focus on the emotional aspect of coping with change.

In the day to day reality though, the difference between psychotherapists is generally based less on whether the therapist is a psychologist or social worker and more on the personal qualities of the therapist. More on that in our next post.