JMHO - One factor in this area to factor in is cost benefit (unless you have some "platinum" type medical coverage and cost is not an issue"). An LCSW type (therapist), will generally cost less per hour, than a psychologist, and a psychologist will generally be cheaper per hour than a psychiatrist. I can'y say I have seen enough of each, but based on what I have read, heard from people I know, and my limited experience therapists and psychologists make much better "talk to" mental health professionals than psychiatrists. An ideal situation is to have a therapists or psychologist as "talk to" MH professional who works with a psychiatrist. That way you can you spend most of your time with the therapist or psychologist and they can pass their "diagnosis" to the Psychiatrist which can cut down on duration and number of med checks/script refill visits ($$ savings) to the more expensive psychiatrist. One caveat - From what I understand, psychiatrists will be much more reluctant to prescribe a specific medication based on the recommendation of a therapist than they will a from a psychologist. As far as PCP's go, unless it is psychologist they recommended and know, they may or may not prescribe based on psychologists recco. The ideal situation is a Mental Health Practice that has all three (Therapists, Physiologists, and Psychiatrists). One person I know goes to a place like this and it really minimizes overall costs because they spend very little time (15 minute med checks with the Psych Dr for med checks, scripts and more time with the therapist and psycholgists for the tests and talk-to type stuff). (Unfortunately - the place I mentioned is not taking new patients...stopped by a couple of weeks ago, they did put me on some type of waiting list...not sure where the backup is, therapists, psychologists or MD/Psy. Oh well...my hunt continues.