What kind of therapist?

So I have another post on teh forum, that I have been discussing back and forth with some other posters. That post can be found here: http://forums.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=187368

I still have to get to my dad's to print out my letter and mail it to my pdoc. Then to wait for him to respond. But while I am waiting, I thought that maybe some people currently in therapy could help explain the difference between types of therapists for me, so I can possibly find one that is the "best" for me.

I know there are psychologists, licenced mental health clinicians, and a slew of other things. What is the difference between them and which is best for learning to stop a destructive behavior?

Here you can learn to stop destructive behavior with any mental health treatment provider (ie psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, CSW,MSW, LCSW, MFT, behavioral specialists,and many more labels of credentials), even medical doctors can help their clients to stop a vast range of destructive behaviors. there are also therapy groups and support groups here that can deal with stopping destructive behaviors.

Basically the differences lie in what is causing the destructive behaviors. for example people with ADHD, ADD, Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia, Depression, alzheimers, high blood pressure, stress, drugs and alcohol, medication imbalances and may other reasons can cause someone to have angry outbursts where they destroy things, harm their self and other destructive behaviors.

once you go through the process of seeing a medical doctor and a mental health treatment provider you learn what is behind the destructive behavior then you get referred to the correct treatment provider for that problem that is causing the destructive behavior.

sometimes treatment for it involves medication, sometimes the treatment involves talk therapy, sometimes its therapy / support groups. and sometimes its a combination of all.

the different types of therapy that all depends on what you respond to, some people respond to structured therapy sessions where there are things like learning a new way of doing things and practicing it during therapy then doing homework and reporting back to the therapist about your progress and others dont. a lot of people end up with a combination of ways to over come their destructive behaviors.

if you are here in the USA your treatment providers will have a session where they hear about what your problems are then you and the treatment providers will work up a treatment plan that is tailored to you and your problems. at that time they will explain to you what is needed and why and how to do what they want you to do.

what are the differences well some therapy falls into the catagory of creative, arts and crafts, art therapy because it is things that you create using your own imagination and art supplies such as paint, pencil, clay, magazines..

some therapy falls into the catagory of CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) which in laymans terms teaches you to recognize your problems and feelings and deal with them without avoiding the problems. during this kind of therapy you will be asked to look at your own core beliefs and whether they are affecting how you deal with your problems.

some therapy falls into the catagory of EDMR (some places call this by EMDR or ERMD among other things) the basics of this is using things like eye movement, tapping or touching a part of your body while reciting a phrase to calm yourself then deal with the problem.

Some therapy falls into the catagory of DBT (Dialectical Behavioral therapy) which is simular to CBT but addresses your behavior problems from a non emotional way where as CBT takes into consideration how you are feeling.

there are as many different types of therapy as there are people places and things. and more are being devised every day. do dont worry about what types are best. whats best for one person isnt best for another. you and your treatment providers will decide what it best for you and how to go about doing what is best for you.