Good cat.
So I’ve had this awkward thing happen where I’ll be socializing at an event
and inevitably meet someone new.
Hey, what’s your name?
Oh, uh, I'm Micah.
What's your name?
Dusseldorf! Yeah.
My friends call me Ducey though.
Oh...Dusseldorf.
Nice to meet you.
Yeah.
Anyway, what do you do?
Oh me?
Uh, well I guess I’m a....
mental health professional of sorts.
I guess uh...
I do counseling.
Oh, so you're like a social worker?
Uhhh, sort of.
I do social work, but I'm not really a social worker, per se.
A psychologist?
Well, no, I'm not a psychologist, but um...
Oh, a psychiatrist.
No, no, that’s too intense, I’m not a psychiatrist.
Uh huh…okay.
Yeah...I’m gonna go use the bathroom.
So awkward.
But it’s confusing.
I mean, there just so much terminology around mental health professions.
And it’s hard to know how to self-identify.
I mean, I don't even know what other people understand.
Well let’s just clear the air right here and right now.
Let’s just break down these terms one by one and try to make sense of them.
And just for fun, let’s go in order based on median US income.
Let’s go!
Counselors are people who counsel or give advice.
Now, this label can be used to identify a lot of different people, including camp counselors,
financial counselors, and spiritual counselors.
But mental health counselors can be both licensed and unlicensed individuals.
Some counselors may have little or no training at all, so you want to make sure that you're
doing your due diligence to make sure that you're getting the real deal.
So am I a counselor?
Yeah, I’d probably call myself a clinical counselor just to make it sound more legit.
But my license here in California is as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor.
Life coaches are folks that motivate others to achieve their personal goals, such as changing
jobs or improving relationships or setting priorities for their lives.
The goal is to help that person become happier.
Life coaches seem to tread that fine line right before providing therapy.
And the reason is because they can't.
See, to be a life coach, you don't actually need to meet any educational or training standards.
Literally anyone can call themselves a life coach.
It's also a term that seems to be used exclusively in private practices.
When I was looking up information about salary, I couldn't find anything on life coaches because
no government agencies or companies use this title.
Maybe I'm a little bit biased, but I have a problem with this title because there's
no oversight or regulation of life coaches.
So am I a life coach?
What do you think?
No!
Clinicians tend to be individuals who have at least a Master’s level education.
It, too, can refer to other roles in the healthcare industry.
For example physicians, nurse practitioners, or speech-language pathologists might all
identify as clinicians.
It also refers to therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists who provide
mental health services.
Clinicians tend to be licensed or license-eligible in their field and follow evidence-based practices
in their area.
I definitely call myself a clinician and my current job title is actually “Lead Clinician”.
"Therapist" is another one of those terms that can refer other professions, like physical
therapists rather than psychotherapists or behavioral therapists.
But let’s focus on the mental health side of things.
In most states in the US, a therapist is someone who is licensed.
As a result, therapists tend to have a higher degree of professionalism and ethics since
they are required by their state board.
But the label, particularly when you say psychotherapist, has a fair amount of bias attached to it.
So am I a therapist?
Yeah, I am a therapist.
And I think that it’s a pretty accurate term.
I just wish that there wasn't so much stigma attached to it.
The term "Mental Health Professional" casts a wide net.
This broad term was developed as a name to describe anyone who worked in the new community
mental health agencies that started in the 1970s after Ronald Regan signed law that put
many state hospitals out of business.
Today, it can refer to therapists, shelter employees, rehab workers, you name it.
There’s no real qualifications for this label, except you have to work with people
who have mental health needs.
Simple as that.
So am I a mental health professional?
Yes, though I probably wouldn't use it as my primary title.
Now social worker is a term that I struggle with.
When I talk with my social worker friends, they say, “Well, you are a social worker
because you do social work”.
Which is true, I do work with individuals, particularly disadvantaged individuals, to
help improve their social well-being.
And it is a diverse term.
it can be used to describe anyone who went to college for social work,
all the way up to someone who is licensed.
In general, someone who self-identifies as a social worker is someone who has a Masters-level
education.
But in all fifty states, there are Licensed Clinical Social Workers, which is a formal
license that's widely used in hospitals, government agencies, and other mental health centers
around the US.
It is a pretty well-guarded title.
And in my experience, when an organization is looking for a social worker, it exclusively
means someone with that license.
So while I do social work and I could call myself a social worker, I don’t because
that's not my license.
A psychoanalyst is someone who practices psychoanalysis,
which is the original form of talk therapy
developed by Sigmund Freud back in the day.
If you want to get more info on that, you can actually click up here to see my video
on psychoanalysis.
Every once in a while, when I tell someone what I do, they’ll say,
“Oh, are you psychoanalyzing me?”
And the answer, of course is...
yes.
But seriously though, this label is reserved for people who faithfully follow the teachings
of Freud and his predecessors.
They almost definitely hold a Master’s degree and are licensed to give therapy.
Psychoanalysts are more common in other countries like Argentina.
And it is not particularly popular here in the US.
So am I a psychoanalyst?
No, I am not.
I could become one if I wanted to, but...
I don’t want to.
Psychologists tend to be people with a PhD in psychology.
Now in some cases, Masters degree or Bachelor degree holders can call themselves psychologists.
But like social workers, in most states the title of psychologist is a protected term
that can only be used by people with the proper education and training, or who have licensure
with their state board.
Psychologists may provide therapy or they may not.
Some just do research.
Due to its protected nature though, I would not call myself a psychologist.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor with a specialization in psychology.
They can prescribe medications after becoming licensed and arguably hold the highest level
of prestige in psychology.
However, due to how few there are in the United States, they tend to spend very little time
with clients and focus primarily on prescribing medications.
So am I a psychiatrist?
I am not a doctor, so...
Noooo.
Just for the fun of it, let's talk about the label "shrink".
Shrink is a colloquial term used to refer to psychotherapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists.
Whenever I hear this term, I can't help but think about Robert DeNiro
as a mob boss saying it.
God forbid somebody hears that I've been talking to a shrink.
That's all I would need, you know?
It could be interpreted the wrong way.
It’s a pretty outdated and stigma-laden word.
And it’s one of those words that I might use as a joke to refer to myself, but if someone
else used it, I’d probably make judgments about them, you know?
Actually, I don’t know about that.
I guess it would depend on the context.
Well anyway, I hope that that was at least somewhat interesting.
It was helpful for me.
I feel like I was able to clarify that I more closely identify with the terms clinician
and therapist in my line of work.
You know, there really are more than just psychologists.
And there's so many different terms for people who do mental health work.
And I'm sure I forgot about a whole bunch of them.
If you thought of one that I forgot, then please leave it in the comments down below.
Anyway, thanks for watching.
Until next time, I'm Micah.
Think about it.