LPC, PSY D, LCSW, LAC, LMFT, NP, RN, APRN, MD, DO, PA

How these Acronyms Can Help You to Find the Mental Health Treatment You’re Looking for

According to TV, therapists and psychiatrists have you lie down on a couch, talk about your deepest thoughts and feelings, and then end up manipulating you or at least having horrifically poor boundaries that serve to only add drama and advance the plot. To add another acronym to the list, that’s total BS. Television’s depiction of mental health professionals is embarrassing and entirely inaccurate. In reality, therapists and other mental health professionals are just that, professional. They often serve as a model for what healthy boundaries look like. This article gives you the scoop on what different types of mental health professionals do and can help guide you to the right clinician to help meet your needs. 

Therapists: LPC, PSY D, LCSW, LAC, LMFT & more
Talk therapists, or as they’re often called, therapists or psychotherapists, are not to be confused with other forms of therapy, such as physical therapy (where physiotherapists walk you through exercises to heal your physical body from illness or injury), occupational therapists (who help you to learn or relearn activities of daily living), or respiratory therapists (who help to assess and manage breathing problems). 
In the mental health world, "therapy" refers to the various ways that a licensed professional talks with you and helps guide you to wellness. Individuals become therapists by completing a 4 year undergraduate degree and a  2-4 year masters or doctoral degree, often in psychology, social work or counseling.
There are many different types of therapy that therapists utilize. Some focus on behavioral changes and provide specific actions and sometimes even homework to help you change behaviors that are getting in the way of wellness (such as CBT, DBT). Others focus on giving you space to explore yourself and find your own direction (e.g. existential therapy, gestalt therapy). There are many different types of therapy that can be effective for various types of mental health issues. 
I usually recommend prioritizing your relationship with the therapist over their license type (e.g. LPC vs LCSW, etc.) or the therapy type (CBT vs DBT, etc.). If you connect with the person and find yourself making progress over time, stick with it. On the other hand, if you find yourself not connecting with your therapist (after 3-4 sessions) or not making progress (after 6-9 months), you may want to try talking with your therapist about these issues or consider finding another therapist. 
Therapists are great at getting to know you well and recognizing when you might benefit from medication in addition to talk therapy. Therapists regularly refer their clients to be assessed by medical providers for diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. 

Medical Providers: MD, DO, PA, NP
Medical providers such as medical doctors (MDs), doctors of osteopathy (DOs), physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs, like me!) are all able to prescribe medication relevant to their particular medical specialty. To work in mental health, MDs and DOs generally complete a 4 undergraduate degree, 4 years of medical school, and 4+ years of a residency program that trains them in their specialty. Doctors are great for complex cases and for those who want care provided by the clinicians who have completed the highest level of education.  Physician assistants complete a 4 year undergraduate degree and generally a 2 year master’s degree which allows them to partner with physicians and work alongside them to provide care for their patients. You’ll often see PAs in large private practices and hospitals. Nurse practitioners have completed an undergraduate degree in nursing which allows them to become a Registered Nurse, or RN, and then a 2-4 year master’s or doctoral degree which allows them to become a Nurse Practitioner or NP. It varies state to state, but in Colorado, Nurse Practitioners are able to practice to the full extent of their education and licensure, and like doctors, manage patients independently. 
A common misconception is that nurse practitioners and registered nurses or licensed practical nurses are the same, but each have different roles and educational backgrounds. I'll leave the discussion of RNs vs LPNs for another time and instead focus on the difference between RNs and NPs. Registered nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system. You’ll find psychiatric RNs in medical practices and hospitals, completing nursing assessments and administering medications. RNs play an important role, but with this licensure alone, they are not able to prescribe medications. Nurse practitioners have an RN license as well as an Advanced Practice nursing license, and they obtain board certification in their specialty, which gives them the NP title and ability to diagnose and treat patients with medications. 
Regardless, of title or degree, these medical professionals are able to prescribe and manage psychiatric / mental health medications. They are experts at diagnosing mental illness and finding evidence-based medical treatments. Some mental health conditions require medication treatment, others can be treated by other means such as lifestyle interventions, talk therapy, and exercise, though I would argue, all are helped by these practices. Medical providers do a great job of letting you know if and when you need medication and when you might benefit from therapy.
All psychiatric medical providers receive varying degrees of training in therapy themselves. In the community, you’ll find that some clinicians provide therapy AND medication management, others may choose to do one or the other. I usually recommend my patients see a therapist in addition to meeting with me. Though I provide solution focused and other forms of brief psychotherapy, I find that people generally make more progress when I manage their medications and discuss the basics like coping strategies and tips for wellness that support the work they are doing with a therapist. I find therapists to be very effective in addressing deep seeded issues such as trauma or long term behavioral patterns that they wish to change. 
Life Coaches and other unlicensed professionals: 
Western medicine’s approach to mental health treatment is by no means the only way to wellness. Many people find that dedicated life coaches help them to work through problems and make progress toward their goals. Others find religious leaders to serve as a helpful guide. Some find eastern medicine techniques or alternative medicine treatments such as herbal remedies to be healing. Of course, we can't leave out our communities, which often serve the largest role in helping us through difficult times. Our family, friends, and neighbors usually don't have a professional license, but are integral in our recovery from illness. 

There are downsides to the western medicine approach just as there are downsides to a more informal or unlicensed approach. Licensed therapists and medical providers are required by state or federal boards to provide evidenced based treatment. If we ever step out of that and don’t uphold the standards of the field, we could lose our licenses and no longer be able to work. There’s a built in system to push people out who are not doing what they need to do. It’s not a perfect system, but it helps. Unfortunately because there are no licensing boards for life coaches, there are no checks and balances if they don’t provide good care. The only limit is their ability to market away a scandal or bad Google review. Unlicensed healers and helpers can be great, but I encourage you to be extra cautious when someone sells magic bullet treatments, cure-all courses, and other versions of what could very well be snake oil. 
I hope this provides some information about what the various types of mental health professionals do. 
Call the clinic for a psychiatric assessment to see what mental health treatment could be right for you! 720-254-1771