Types Of Mental Health Professionals

Having the right mental health professional can help you take control of mental, spiritual, emotional, and relationship issues that are difficult to tackle. There are many types of mental health care professionals that can help you to achieve your goals. 

It is very important to have a professional mental health expert in life because there are many unwanted situations that happened in life. And, then we are not able to solve them by ourselves. Mental health professionals can be found in some clinics, hospitals, and also private practices. Different health care professionals are available and their specialties vary according to their job. Below we will discuss different mental health professionals with specific credentials and expertise because it is easier to find a good mental health professional when you are already aware of different areas of expertise and training. 

Psychiatrist

Psychiatrists treat, diagnose, and help to prevent mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. For that purpose, they use psychiatrist medicine, do physical exams, and lab tests too. These professionals are trained to evaluate the mental health of a person. General doctors prefer to have a normal medication with medicine to help with mental and emotional problems but in some conditions, you need to go to a professional psychiatrist for complicated disorders. Some Professional psychiatrists are also trained to deal with children and adolescents’ mental health.

Degree: Psychiatrists must have a degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) with complete residency training in psychiatry.

Psychologist

Normally psychologists work in private offices, schools, and hospitals. They are specialized in the science of behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. They treat a wide range of issues that are not handled by anyone just like relationship problems and mental illness through counseling. Many psychologists are trained in significant therapy like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and many other behaviors therapy. 

Degree Requirements: Professional Psychologist must have a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in a field of psychology or Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.). 

Psychoanalyst

To recover someone Psychoanalyst follows the theories and practice of Sigmund Freud. They try to explore persons’ repressed or unconscious impulses, internal conflicts, and anxiety. And, this is done by different techniques like dream interpretations, associations Analysis of resistance, and transference. 

We can see that many Psychoanalysts are criticized by many people but some of their patients said that it is very good to have psychoanalysis because they help us to explore deep psychological and emotional disturbance. 

Anyone can call himself or herself a psychoanalyst that is why be aware while selecting the right psychoanalysis. 

Degree Requirements: Doctor of Medicine, or M.D., Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, or D.O. and Ph.D. in psychology or social work. 

Clinicians, Counselor, and Therapist

These all are also masters in health care professions. They are trained to evaluate the mental health of a person and for this, they use different therapy techniques that are based on the different training programs. All these health care professionals treat their patients under a variety of training including counselor, clinician, and therapist. 

Having a potential consultation with these health care professionals will definitely lead you to better ways like better thinking, positive feelings, and good living. They also have specific degree requirements: 

Degree: they need a master’s degree (M.S or M.A) in a mental health-related field counseling psychology, Counseling, marriage and family therapy, and others. 

Psychiatrist Nurse

Psychiatrist nurses are known for their significant therapies with people who need help. They are registered nurses who are trained in mental health. They perform different psychologist therapy and psychiatrist medications but they treat their patients under the guideline of a medical doctor. 

Degree Requirements: A psychiatrist nurse must have a degree of Master of Science (MS) or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in nursing with a specialized focus on psychiatry.

Mental Health Counselor

Mental health counselors can provide you the assessment, diagnosis, and therapy for the current mental health conditions. In many terms, mental health counselors are considered for proper counseling issues. Well! It is also very important to ask a counselor about his education and experience. We should also ask them about the services that they are providing. 

Counselors can also be specialized in different fields like Addiction, Job stress, families, marriages, and stress. 

Family And Marriage Counselor 

Just like the mental health counselor Family and marriage, health counselors are also trained in basic problems that come up in families and married couples. These counselors focused on specific issues and then tried to find a quick solution. 

Addiction Counsellor 

You may also know many people who are addicted to some kind of serious problems like Alcohol addiction. So, addiction counselors help us to overcome these kinds of problems. Normally these therapies are conducted in group settings. It can also be private if you want. 

Training Needed

A Mental health professional training and degree requirements depend on their specific fields and the state they practice in. Let me clear one thing: a psychiatrist requires a medical degree while a psychologist requires Ph.D. While almost all types of counselors and therapists require some college degree with special training. Some other things are also very important to notice such as Clinical experience, Published articles, State licensing, and Postgraduate degree of master’s or doctorate.