When your child or teen has a broken bone or a persistent cough, as a parent, you know what to do. Depending on how severe their problem is, you might go to a local emergency room or an urgent care center or check in with your pediatrician or primary care provider and see what they recommend. However, when your children or teenagers have a mental health concern, it may not be as clear what to do, and you may end up feeling confused and overwhelmed.
There are different types of providers in mental health care. Providers have different approaches to therapy or treatment, some based on science and others less so. Finally, the cost of mental health services varies widely, especially if you have insurance or not and more so if the provider is in or out-of-network.
In this series, we will examine two main areas and help demystify the confusion: the various types of Mental Health Providers and treatments available for children, teens, and young adults.
Four Common Types of Mental Health Providers
- Mental Health Therapists: Mental Health Therapists treat a variety of mental health disorders mainly using “talk” therapies. During the sessions, patients learn specific skills or techniques, along with gaining a better understanding of the concerns they face. Therapists can be from many different professions, including psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and professional counselors, to name a few.
The primary difference across the professions is often the minimum time spent in education and training. Psychologists (those with Ph. Ds or PsyDs) complete a program with four or more years of Education and Training focused on psychological assessments, diagnoses, and research skills.
Clinical social workers (LCSWs), marriage and family therapists (LMFTs), and professional counselors (LPC, LMHC) typically complete a two—to three-year master’ s-level education and training program focused on various orientations and treatment processes.
Therapists deliver therapy starting with an assessment process, leading to a collaborative understanding of the patient’s concerns. That may include making any appropriate diagnoses and treatment plans. Therapy may take place in one-on-one sessions, group sessions, couple sessions, or family therapy. - Psychiatrists and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners: Psychiatrists and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners have medical training and can counsel individuals on medications. They typically prescribe medications to treat mental health conditions and monitor how well those medications are working and if any adverse side effects occur. These steps are often known as medication management. In addition to monitoring medications, they may also practice “talk” therapy.
- Neuropsychologists: Neuropsychologists have specialized training in evaluating specific brain-based conditions and how they impact cognition and behaviors. They typically administer cognitive tests to determine an individual’s neurological strengths and weaknesses, often called a neuropsychological assessment. They can diagnose mental health conditions such as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Intellectual Disability, or Specific Learning Disorders, frequently making recommendations to help any cognitive deficits they find but seldom delivering “talk” therapy.
- Allied Health Professionals: Allied Health Professionals, such as occupational therapists, educational interventionists, or speech and language pathologists, frequently deliver non-counseling services. They work with individuals on concerns that are different but related to mental health concerns. They work on particular goals (e.g., improving speech conditions and working on academic abilities). They often use strategies similar to, but not the same as, therapy (e.g., breaking speech into smaller components, teaching organizational and study strategies).
Mental health providers can have very different philosophies guiding their treatment. As a parent, ways to understand how the therapist will provide services include being inquisitive and asking questions. You may come across the term “evidence-based,” which means that that treatment has been studied rigorously and shown to be as good, or better, than other approaches. Seeking out evidence-based therapies can be helpful because they’ve been shown to work for individuals with similar concerns.