[ SECRET POST #3816 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3816 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[iZombie]



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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 10 secrets from Secret Submission Post #546.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Mental health junk

[(Anonymous)]

I've been on "both sides" in the mental health world - was a mental health worker and also did general administrative work at a clinic, and I've also taken antidepressants.

You actually don't need either a psychiatrist or a psychologist, at least not regularly. Let me clarify.

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who can prescribe drugs, but they aren't usually going to do normal therapy sessions, because they are just too expensive and it's not a good or efficient use of their time. They might see you for a short session to prescribe medication and confirm your symptoms, but they probably aren't going to give you weekly therapy. You might not want them to, anyway, it's honestly not usually their specialty, they focus on the medical side of things.

A psychologist is (almost always) a PhD-level clinician who is specially trained in testing for specific disorders. A psychologist might provide regular therapy, but their time is usually prioritized by conducting testing and higher-end stuff, like court-ordered tests/documentation.

Most therapy will be provided by a licensed clinical social worker, a master's level clinician who specializes in therapy (usually with a certain specialty, like kids, family therapy, etc.) But just to be clear, they aren't "less qualified" at therapy than a psychologist or psychiatrist, in fact, it's what they are trained to do. They can do diagnostic assessments and some testing, too. Most clinics will only have a few psychologists (if more than one) on staff, and many don't even have full time psychiatrists and have to refer out for psychiatry/drug prescriptions. That's why your therapist will probably be a LICSW (licensed clinical social worker) or similar.

Note that "therapist" itself doesn't really have a legal definition and there are junk "therapists" out there, so make sure you're seeing someone who is licensed. Also, I want to clarify that a licensed mental health provider will still have strong familiarity with mental health medication, especially anxiety/depression drugs, it's just that they don't prescribe them.

Best of luck! You should talk to your PCP about referring you to a mental health clinic or specific provider, they probably know a few names.

Re: Mental health junk

[(Anonymous)]

SA - I realized my first sentence of "you don't need a psychologist/psychiatrist" unintentionally sounds like I'm telling you not to see a mental health provider, which is not at all what I meant! I just wanted to point out that most clinicians who provide therapy are neither a psychologist nor a psychiatrist, they are licensed social workers/etc.

Re: Mental health junk

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for the informative reply. Lately I've been wondering if I might be autistic...so if I want to seek testing, it would be best to see a psychologist or clinical social worker? Do I need to find someone who specializes in autism?

Re: Mental health junk

[(Anonymous)]

No problem!

Autism testing would be typically done by a psychologist. There are psychologists who specialize in autism, but as far as treatment, a clinical social worker might also specialize.

What you'll want to do is either ask your doctor to refer you directly to a clinic (or clinician), or just go ahead and call the mental health clinic yourself. They'll get a little bit of basic information from you, and you can tell them specifically that you were just diagnosed with anxiety/depression by your doctor and would like to be tested for autism. They'll set you up with the right provider who can do that testing, or hopefully be able to recommend another clinic if they don't have someone who can do that testing.