Can clients be called patients?

my therapist calls me her client . I prefer client cuz my doctors call their patients .





Diagnosis: Anxiety and depression
meds : Cymbalta 90 mgs at night
Vistaril 2 25 mgs daily for anxiety prn
50 mgs at night for insomnia

I think the LPC is wrong to call her clients as her patients . being called a patient is reserved for doctors and psychiatrists . unless the LPC is a psychologist then the client is a patient . my therapist refers me and the other people that she counsel are clients .it sounds more appropriate for an LPC or an LPCC to call their patients clients.






Diagnosis: Anxiety and depression
meds : Cymbalta 90 mgs at night
Vistaril 2 25 mgs daily for anxiety prn
50 mgs at night for insomnia

I don't know. I've really never heard her refer to me/others using one word or the other. Honestly, I really wouldn't care either way.

After reading "How Psychotherapy Really Works" I have come to understand and kinda like the term patient to be used by therapists. He explained it in a way I could relate to and understand. Either term doesn't bother me and I like the word consumer as well, tends to change the dynamic of power I think, if that's something that the client struggles with or needs to internally feel.

My T calls the people she sees clients.

I don't know waht pdoc uses. I've never heard him using the word client or patient. When I was talking to my T about someting that has to do with him, she thought he would use the term patient.
I don't like to be called patient. Yes he's some kind of doctor and he prescibes me medication. But patient is more for when you're in the hospital.

Lots of things written about Client vs. Patient.

National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology - Continuing Education Website

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...nts-or-clients

Words Matter: Patients versus Clients | The Lancet Student

In my training as an LMHC we are encouraged to use the term client. The Counselling profession takes a "wellness" approach rather than using the medical model. Since the term patient implies the presence of an illness, we are taught that client is preferable. I prefer this myself since LMHCs (or LPCs) and social workers, unless they work in an inpatient or hospital setting, are not medical professionals. I'm not a fan of calling anyone without an MD "doctor" in a medical context. So PhDs referring to themselves as a doctor and calling clients patients kinda rubs me the wrong way. That's just my own stuff though and probably not how a lot of others think.

Client; person using services of lawyer or professional person or company

Patient; person receiving or registered to received medical treatment.

If my insurance covers it I prefer patient. It also denotes to me that the person giving the services keeps in mind, my best interest. It also sounds much warmer and personal to me.

Client sounds cold and business like, as if their interest come firsts

I also suspect that client came about as a political correctness term or as a way of justification for HMOs not to pay for MH treatment.

Personally I would prefer my T to think of me as a patient I'm a person with feelings. It also makes the boundaries more clear.

I don't even use patient with mds. I don't address them as dr. either.
That Lancet article makes me want to berate the author for his condescending pompous smugness.

I believe language does matter and the choices made when choosing terms and labels are important in general and when dealing with therapists specifically.

Honestly, I don't care one way or another. What I DO care about is the quality of the services and care they provide, regardless of what they call themselves or me. It is a semantics issue that, for me, is a non-issue. I suspect there are plenty of therapists who use the term "patient" who provide fabulous services and plenty who call us "clients" who are lousy, and vice versa. It isn't about the words; it is about the quality of service and care. THAT'S my bottom line.

For me, it would be about both. I don't consider the distinction to be mere semantics. Although I do think most semantics matter.

So perhaps a different poll should be more aimed at whether the terms make a difference to you as a client or not. It appears that it varies person to person. I do think semantics make a difference in many things; this just isn't one that is particularly important to me personally, much like I don't care whether a psychologist goes by "Dr. so and so." That matters to some people; to others, that is a minor issue because what is most important is the quality of service and what a person goes by doesn't seem to have any bearing on that bottom line.

I think it matters to know their mindset. How their language reflects their view on their position versus the position of the client.

I totally agree with this. I look for an equal partnership where my therapist and I work together. The notion that I'm his "patient" would be really out of place in our work together. I don't think client is a perfect term either, but it's much closer in spirit to where we are at. Before we worked together I read one of his books and I actually checked to see which he used, because I suspected (rightfully I think) that it would give me an indication of how well we might work together.

I agree with sidestepper and do think "patient" is used on paper primarily for insurance purposes, much like a diagnosis is. In conversation however, client is more commonly heard. I've actually never heard an LMHC or LCSW refer to private clients as patient. In this respect I agree that semantics does matter since the difference is due to theoretical orientation. The first thing I learned in Ethics class is that Counselors don't technically use the medical model, while Doctorate level psychologists and psychiatrists do. Given that difference it makes sense that they would use the term "patient" over client. Maybe it sounds cold, but to me it sounds more respectful and keeps the relationship on equal footing rather than one being "sick" and the other being a "healer". It may also have political meaning within the field itself, especially where I'm from, where there is a lot of competition and a sense of elitism in certain disciplines.