Since you did not specify your "issues, " I will be fairly generic.
The top of the line clinical psychologist is one with a PhD. This is a doctorate of philosophy in psychology and the psychologist has had years of training, research, and in-depth studies regarding different theories and methods of practice. Most PhDs can utilize various types of therapies and are comfortable working with "difficult cases."
Clinical psychologists have seen it all!
Next would be a PysD. This is a Doctor of Psychology and is a "newer" doctoral degree, usually linked with more professional training. It is rare (but becoming more common) to find these people in academic settings, mostly because they are not research types. Personally, I believe you need to be careful with this degree, because some of these programs DO NOT have APA approved internships and the acceptance rates into APA approved internships are usually lower in the "no-name schools." Clinicians without APA approved internships and experiences are usually poorer treaters.
If you are going to see a PsyD, ask where they went to school and where they did their internship and if it was APA approved. Also, how long have they been practicing and what types of problems they specialize in.
There is a huge debate among classic PhD and newer PsyD which I won't go into, but you could probably Google and find out.
In addition, there are MS degrees in counselling and family therapy and social work. These people can be very good, but tend to focus on what I call "skills" training and not in-depth analysis. If you don't want to do in-depth analysis or find the true answer to your problem, skills training can be great for getting rid of symptoms quickly. Many of these level treater practice Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques.
Personally, I also believe it is EXTREMELY important that the treater has had therapy. Today, many programs do not require therapist to have therapy, nor do they require therapist to "be free of defect."....which could be a HUGE problem.
My point here is if you are dealing with eating disorders and your T has an active eating disorder, RUN LIKE HELL. This T could not properly help you and model good behavior for you....same with issues of Addiction and Self-harm.
Remember, you are the buyer. The T must fit what you need, but be educated for what you are looking for.
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