5 Types Mental Health Professionals: Knowing which of them is right for you!

Having decided to take professional help for dealing with mental, emotional, behavioral or relationship issues is the first step towards healing. But the dilemma does not stop with the decision to consult a mental health professional. The real challenge is in being able to identify which one is most suitable for your individual case. Of course there is the additional concern of cost, location, time span, benefits of therapy and more. So as an individual whom do you consult with? In this article we have tried to explain the different medical professionals who practice healing techniques for mental health so that one can identify their right fit!

5 Types of Mental Health Professionals 

• Psychologist: A specialist in comprehending human behavior, thoughts and emotions, psychologists are experts at offering counseling for relationship or personal issues and mental disorders, through scientific study and counseling. Psychologists are of different types, the most popular being clinical psychologists and child or school psychologists. They don’t prescribe medication (unless in rare cases) and usually helps their patients overcome their difficulties through group or individual therapy.

• Psychiatrist: A medical doctor licensed to prescribe medication psychiatrists are also often trained in psychotherapy. They often specialize in working with particular groups or mental health, such as child/adolescent psychiatrists, psychosis, psychiatrists working with people with learning disabilities, perinatal psychiatrists, forensic psychiatrists etc. Based on particular cases they often perform physical exams, interpret laboratory tests etc.

• Marital and Family Therapist: With hundreds of hours of direct clinical experience, marriage and family therapists are trained specialists who use a variety of diagnostic and group/individual counseling techniques for healing. They usually deal with the usual problems that occur in marital and family life ranging from arguments, disagreements to graver issues. These sessions are usually short as the focus is on specific differences.  In certain cases if the problem is specific to one person like alcoholism, then singular sessions can also be arranged for.

• Psychiatric Nurses: They usually come with a license as registered nurses (RN) and get trained as psychiatric nurses with over 500 hours of clinical experience. In some states they can even write prescriptions for medication and even have knowledge of psychotherapy. They usually offer treatment for mental and emotional issues and are known for having a positive therapeutic relationship with patients. Based on their area of expertise and the nature of patients they are dealing with they can further specialize as family psychiatric nurses, child psychiatric nurses, psychiatric mental-health nurses, community psychiatric nurses etc. 

• Mental Health Counselor: A rather broad category, these professionals require appropriate license and/or qualifications along with thousands of hours of clinical experience. The extent of their practice extends to offering counseling for job stress, general stress, addiction, marital problems and so on. 

The key to identifying the right mental health professional who can attend to your specific case is to first figure out what is important to you as an individual. In fact there are times when you might have to consult more than one professional to find the right fit.

If you are a marketer having access to drugs and medical supplies or products that would help mental health professionals to offer their services better then make sure you get in touch with Top Healthcare Leads for our mental health professionals email list. A thoroughly verified and accurate database it ensures that marketers are able to connect with decision making mental health professionals for the sales and promotions of their products and services.