If you’ve found me, probably you’ve done a google search or something similar. Typing in keywords such as “psychiatrist,” or “psychologist,” or “therapy,” and so on, pulls up a host of names. Who are all these people? And how do you choose? Good questions!

Well, first there are different kinds of mental health practitioners. These include counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Counselors tend to be LPCs (licensed professional counselors) and often have a master’s level degree in counseling. There are also social workers who have an LCSW (licensed clinical social workers). Then there are also psychologists who have doctoral degrees in psychology.

Now, psychiatrists are medical doctors. They are physicians. They went to medical school, did gross anatomy, and the like (that’s me). These doctors then at some point decided to specialize in the human mind.

Because of their medical background, they are skilled in understanding the neuroscience and chemistry of the brain. They can prescribe medication. They understand  how different neuronal pathways interconnect, the neurotransmitters involved, and how that then eventually translates into human behavior. Brain chemistry gone awry can result in a variety of disorders, and medications can help improve symptoms.

So now what? Well, you might decide what kind of treatment you are looking for - I’ll get back to that in a minute.

Now, regardless of whom you retain, it is important you choose someone who can connect with you on a personal level, someone you feel comfortable working with. These are some questions to keep in mind:

• Is this someone you can trust with your feelings?
• Do you feel like you are being validated and heard?
• Do you feel like they are trying to understand you?
• Do you feel like they are empathic and care about you?
• Do they present as professional and have appropriate boundaries?
• Are they culturally sensitive to your ethnic background or sexual orientation?
• Are they up front about fees?