Finding a therapist or counselor to meet your unique needs can be complicated and confusing! While all licensed providers have high educational and ethical standards, they can have different credentials based on their training and specialization. Insurance companies may require a referral letter for gender affirming surgery to be written by a “masters level psychotherapist”. Any of the types of licensed providers below meet this requirement, but not all therapists have experience writing letters.
LCSW – A Licensed Clinical Social Worker’s training focuses on holistically helping a person improve their life and mental health. While addressing mental health concerns, they may be more adept at helping clients address social and environmental factors that contribute to stress and poor mental health like unemployment, unstable housing, food insecurity, and other factors.
LCMHC – Licensed Clinical Mental Health counselors focus solely on assessing, diagnosing, and treating mental health disorders in individuals. They typically work with clients to help them understand emotions and cope with a specific set of challenges.
LMFT – Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists specialize in interpersonal relationships. Many of the people who offer couples counseling or family therapy have an LMFT. People who want to work on behavior patterns created by their upbringing may also want to work with an LMFT.
LCAS – Licenced Clinical addiction specialists have additional training working with people with substance use disorders. For people who use alcohol or drugs to cope with underlying mental health concerns, working with an LCAS can help address both issues at once and be particularly beneficial.
Psychology is the only mental health discipline with both a master’s level (LPA) and doctoral level (LP) license. The most pronounced differences in practice between these are that doctoral level providers have more extensive training in research methods, are more likely to teach at the collegiate level, and have less supervision requirements.
LPA – Licensed Psychological Associates are licensed master’s level Psychologists, which gives them a unique background in clinical application of therapeutic methods and specialized training in conducting psychological evaluations. This training in evaluations can help LPAs clarify diagnosis or provide information used to develop educational plans. LPAs can also be found conducting program evaluations or in the public health sector working to promote social change.
PhD/Psy. D – Psychologists are doctoral-level mental health providers. They often specialize in testing and diagnosis for neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD and Autism. They can either have a PhD (in psychology) or a PsyD. While both are experts in psychology, the difference in these credentials comes down to training. PsyD programs focus on clinical work, therapeutic methods, and diagnosis of mental disorders. Psychologists with a PhD can create and test the reliability of diagnostic tools used by other mental health providers. On top of their mastery of mental health and human behavior, they have extensive training in statistics and research methods. Despite earning the title of “Dr.”, psychologists are not medical doctors and can’t prescribe medications.
It’s also worth noting that therapists may have PhDs in other fields, even unrelated to mental health. If you see credentials like “LCSW, PhD” don’t be afraid to ask what their Doctorate is in! For example, our own Katharine Campbell obtained a PhD in Public Affairs to aid her advocacy efforts in healthcare and criminal justice systems.
If you see a -A or -S (ex. LCSWA, LCMHCS) at the end of someone’s credential, it stands for Associate or Supervisor. Associates are newer providers who still require oversight by a more experienced clinician. They have completed their master’s degree and hundreds of hours of clinical practicum. Supervisors oversee and mentor newer providers. They have at least 5 years of clinical experience, have completed additional training, and passed in-depth ethical reviews.