When looking for ways of maintaining and improving one’s own mental health in the Vaughan area, it doesn’t take long to discover that there are many different types of professionals that provide help. One of the most common things that people hear from friends and family is that they’re seeing a therapist, but what are therapists and what do they do?
The simplest definition for a therapist is that they are a licensed professional who diagnoses and treats people with mental health issues. This is also a term that can be applied to a few different specialists in the field. There are psychologists, counselors, and psychiatrists who refer to themselves as therapists. The most important part of understanding therapists is to understand the difference between them.
First of all, whether in Vaughan or anywhere else in Canada, all therapists abide by the same rules and have the same requirements to be licensed in most parts of the country. A counselor listens to people in need of help and provides advice and guidance on how to deal with life’s problems. They can’t prescribe medication but they are among the most informal form of mental health professionals.
A psychologist is a professional mental health therapist who has usually achieved a doctorate in the field. Their educational background is in the study of human behavior. These are the more analytical therapists whose job it is to assess a person’s mental issues and find a way to treat them. A psychologist is usually a person that people go to see when they are looking for more long-term treatment.
Psychiatrists receive the greatest amount of training in the field and need to have a medical treatment to qualify for the title. These specialists in mental health are able to prescribe medications and usually are found in one of the many more specific areas of psychology.
There are also psychoanalysts who take a more traditional approach to psychology in that they attempt to discover the roots of the cause of a mental health issue. They believe that many people’s foibles and fears can be traced down to something that happened earlier in their lives. A person who has an irrational phobia of the water, for instance, might have a psychoanalyst discover that they nearly drowned as a child, leading to the fear as an adult.
Another type of therapist is called a rehabilitation counselor. There are many people who have to deal with a disability suddenly or are having issues dealing with one that they’ve had for some time. In either case, some people need help coping with their disabilities which is where rehabilitation counselors come in to help them be in a better place, mentally, when dealing with those challenges.
For anyone going through a tough time in their marriage or in dealing with other family members, marriage and family therapists are specialists in aiding families to be happier and to have the tools to get along with everyone else.