Can Master's level therapists diagnose you?

My therapist has diagnosed me with something and my caseworker is not happy about it, saying only my pdoc can diagnose. My therapist defended herself to me saying she does have the right to diagnose. Who is right in the state of Michigan?

Yes, they have the right and ability to diagnose. Your case worker is wrong.

Are they licensed?

http://www.michigancounselingassocia...fact_sheet.pdf

It says: Diagnosis and treatment planning for mental and emotional disorders

Psych diagnoses are subjective and in my experience psych professionals disagree with each other all the time regarding them. If you and your T are comfortable with your diagnosis and find it useful for addressing your issues I wouldn't worry what caseworker says.

Licensed therapists at the master's level do make diagnoses. I have a master's degree in mental health counseling and I am licensed as a clinical mental health counselor. We had detailed and specific training in diagnosis and testing as well as treatment of mental illness, even a class on psychopharmacology but we don't prescribe medication - would need to get an M.D., P.A., or A.P.R.N. to prescribe although in some states they have an advanced practice license for psychologists that allows them to prescribe.

Mental health counselors have the most training in diagnosis and assessment of other master's level therapists. Social workers might not have any classes in it unless they took them as electives. Their clinical training is not classroom-based. I had two and a half years of classes that covered everything that we do, and then a year of practicum and internship as a student, and then two more years of supervision while working as certified professional counselor intern before being licensed. By the time we finish the internships and supervision we have as much training and experience as entry-level doctoral level psychologists, just more of it is experiential as opposed to classroom and research.

yes, they can

How else would T bill the insurance. She better be able DX or they won't pay.

Per Psychology Today (the site I found my T on).

Licensed Counselors have a master's or a doctoral degree in counseling or a related area and complete two years of supervised practice. In most States, they are licensed as independent providers of mental health services, including the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional issues, and use a variety of therapeutic techniques.

Thanks, I would like to know why my caseworker lied to me then, or is she just ignorant? Who knows.

She may either be ignorant, or didn't like the diagnosis. You could ask her.

She may be your caseworker,but who is paying her? If it's the insurance company - watch out.

In my opinion, they are usually there to keep costs down which usually translates to minimizing your care.

Now, I'm not saying they are all like that - I've known some really good ones too - just know who is signing her checks.

yes they can...

My T has me with one dx and pdoc has me with a different one. T knows what pdoc has and disagrees. Pdoc has me with a mild form of bipolar whereas T has major depression with anxiety. T feels that what pdoc sees as mania (which I can honestly say I have never experienced) is me faking happiness and going a little overboard.

Mental health counseling is the newest of all the licenses, it's only been around since the 1970's. So I have found there to be a lot of snobbery/competition from social workers towards masters level couselors. I've talked to my T, who is an LICSW, at length about this and she said it's very true, especially when they get into the academic/ education aspect. Its one of the things she dislikes about the field. It's competition in he market that social workers once dominated after pdocs, PhDs and PsyDs became less available for therapy. So it's either snobbery, ignorance or both.

I think if you are applying for disability you will need to be diagnosed from a psychiatrist. Someone tell me if I am wrong.

This may be true because disability would want a doctor to diagnose you. And master's level counselor isn't a doctor.

Mine said he couldn't diagnose me so I hope he didn't throw labels around when talking about me. It turns out he never really knew me at all.

I believe you are correct about this. They can diagnose but these things, along with psych testing must be done by MD's or PhDs.

Just to clarify-I am a licensed clinical social worker, and social workers are given extensive academic and clinical training in the area of diagnosis, and in the state that I live in, those classes are mandatory-they are not electives. I had two years of coursework with classes specifically dedicated to diagnosis, and training in diagnosis was also woven into the curriculum of nearly every class that I can think of (with the exception of a research methods/stats class, perhaps). I also had two years of clinical internship.

Diagnosing is a lot of guesswork and the dsm is not infallible and was never meant to be the bible it got turned into. Often the so called professionals will not agree on a diagnosis for a person. Diagnosing is most handy for them because as a label, it gives them a slot to put the client in.
OP -what difference does it make to your case worker?

I agree with stopdog-diagnosing is definitely not an exact science. Because a T is trained to think differently then a pdoc, who is a medical doctor, both clinicians are going to see different things and it is often helpful to have the T and the pdoc collaborate. I just want to point out that generally a T sees a patient a lot more frequently then a pdoc does. They are sometimes better able to observe a fluctuating mood, for example, and to put it in context (based on what they know is happening in the patient's life at the moment, or what went on in a specific session).

Anyone can diagnose you with something, I can diagnose you if you want but you probably would not want that as I have no training or interest in treating you. But only a pdoc can prescribe meds for you and no matter what your T may decide you are suffering from, your pdoc will make up their own mind. A diagnosis is for insurance and the diagnoser's benefit, so they have a clue what they are trying to treat you for. No one else has to "accept" their diagnosis (except the insurance company, if they are paying the diagnoser). It is not a formal thing except as your treatment team may decide among themselves, etc.

The controversy is that the tdoc added Asperger's Syndrome and that is what the caseworker was unhappy about. The caseworker works for the same people as the pdoc, while the tdoc is part of a private practice. I didn't tell her the part where the tdoc also rejects schizoaffective and believes I just have bipolar.

Honestly, I wouldn't be comfortable with a master's level therapist diagnosing something as complicated as bipolar or schizophrenia or autism, etc., especially without a second opinion. Even my pdoc is careful enough with diagnosing that he gets several opinions before completely "trusts" his own. In my case, he was right according to the other pdocs and therapists who gave second opinions, but he knows enough to know that diagnoses of mental illness is very subjective and deserves the time and care to be assessed carefully.

How about getting further testing, opinions, to help verify? It might be a good idea.

If the T is an expert in autism or bipolar, she would have the training and skills necessary to diagnose those. But if she doesn't, then she doesn't have any special abilities. I would go with whichever one sounds more right to you.

I agree with Hazel...what the T specializes in plays a role in their ability to recognize and diagnose. Experience also helps. My T is an LCSW specializing in eating disorders and mood disorders. She is more then qualified to recognize and diagnose bipolar and I'm pretty darn sure that she would realize when she was looking at a psychotic illness like schizophrenia.

I have bipolar 2, but my mood fluctuations are pretty subtle. My T was the first one to realize that I had a cycling mood. She has since collaborated with my pdoc and I have been put on the right meds.

In considering ANY T's diagnosis (masters level or otherwise) I would also look at what they specialize in and how much experience they have.