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Originally Posted by ChickenNoodleSoup
To me, therapist is the overall word for anything talk therapy related. So psychologist, psychiatrist (if they do talk therapy and not just meds, and these 500 different credentials one can get otherwise.
To me, counselors were the only ones that couldn't effectively help me, since they are there more to guide you than to actually fix difficult mental health problems.
With my T, a psychiatrist, I never had that issue. But I'm pretty sure that some counselors would be able to help me, and some psychiatrists would not. Although you say that it's not an issue of finding the right one, it still is. For some people 90% of therapists might be useful, for some only 20% or less. Each therapist has a different way of talking, some might click well with you, some may not.
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I also just use "therapist" as a general term. My ex-T was a social worker (LCSW) and my marriage counselor and my current T are both psychologists (PhD), and I think of them all as "therapists." In terms of their approach to working with clients, much of it comes down to personal style and what modalities they use. Both MC and current T are psychologists, as I mentioned, but both have very different therapy styles.
I agree that it's not so much about their degree or title, but whether they're a good fit, whether they, as ChickenNoodleSoup said, "click well with you." One way to approach this is, if you're thinking of trying out a new therapist, either in an initial phone call (some offer free phone consultations) or the first appointment, tell them what you're looking for in a therapist and see if they seem to "match."
Another helpful way to see how they might fit is to look through Psychology Today profiles in their
Find a Therapist section. Many of the profiles also link to their websites, so you can see how they present themselves. Of course, it often comes down to meeting them to really know if they're a good fit, but I've certainly crossed some options off the list just by seeing their profiles.