Hello and

I'm your host, Dr. Ellen Hendrickson,

and every week I'll help you meet life challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

Psychologist, psychiatrist, and social workers, oh my!

Understanding the health care system is hard enough.

Choosing a mental health provider complicates matters even more.

So this week, by request from listener Diane, we answer the question, who are you going to call,

and help you find a provider who's a perfect fit for you or someone you love.

So rather than reading off a list of job descriptions, instead we'll play choose your own

adventure and see where you land.

So in general, the two paths are therapy or medication, though it's been shown over and over that the most effective treatment is both together.

So, while the one-two punch of therapy and medication is probably your best bet different professions provide each.

So first, who primarily does therapy?

Well since I'm biased, we'll start with psychologists.

Psychologists have a doctoral degree and have passed a national licensing exam,

kind of like the bar for lawyers or the boards for physicians.

And there are two paths to be in a psychologist, but each one teaches

diagnosis and treatment of almost any psychological problem. So 75% of psychology doctorates still earn the traditional PhD.

And you get a kind of three careers in one training with the psychology PhD program.

There's a heavy emphasis on research, but you also learn how to teach and most importantly how to do therapy with patients.

But about 40 years ago, a new psychology degree was pioneered, the Saeedi or Doctor of Psychology.

It was conceptualized as a professional degree like the MD or the JD and was focused on

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