Frequently Asked Questions
1. When should I consider therapy as an alternative?
2. Why should I seek a licensed psychologist (or other licensed psychotherapist)?
3. What is the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist?
5. What can I expect in the first visit?1. When should I consider therapy as an alternative?
When life is too hard and everything you've tried has failed to solve the problems. When you find yourself feeling like you are burdening your family and friends by talking about your problems. When you are living your life feeling depressed or anxious about things all the time. When you need someone to listen rather than telling you how to fix the situation.
2. Why should I seek a licensed psychologist (or other licensed psychotherapist)?
So you know what you're getting. The fact that a professional is licensed gives you specific information about the educational and experiential requirements that the person has met. In New Hampshire it is possible to practice therapy without being licensed (although there are limitations about what you can call yourself and what you do). If you are seeing a therapist who is not licensed, you should ask what training and experience makes that person competent to treat you. The Board or licensing body also provides the mechanism for investigating any serious complaint you might have about the professional's treatment of you. If your therapist is not licensed you have fewer options if you are mis-treated.
3. What is the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist?
In a nutshell: a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who is specifically trained to prescribe psychotropic medications; a psychologist is a Ph.D. (or other doctoral level, but not medical doctor) who is trained in psychology and doing therapy. Although in the past psychiatrists also did provide therapy, today most of them prescrbe medications but do not provide therapy. So you are likely to see a psychiatrist for much shorter sessions (10-15 minutes each time) once you have started taking a medication, while you will see a psychologist for a full 50 minutes each time.
4. How do I find a therapist?
The best way to find a therapist is to ask someone you trust: a friend or relative or neighbor who has knowledge of the community; a minister or pastor; your primary-care physician or nurse practitioner. Many time people find a therapist by looking in the Yellow Pages or by going to the list of providers supplied by their health insurance. This is not the best way to find a good therapist (even though you may want to know that a therapist can bill and be reimbursed by your insurance).
5. What can I expect in the first visit?
You will start off filling out paperwork if you have not already done it. Some practices send out the preliminary paperwork with directions before you come the first time. Other practices (mine is one) have the forms available to print out from a website, so you can fill them out before you come in. You can go to my Forms to see what one set looks like (what kind of information, etc.).
Then you will come into the office and we will begin to talk. I usually ask for any questions and then I talk a little about confidentiality and the limitations on it that we practice under.
After that I will ask you to start telling me about yourself. If there is something pressing you will probably want to start there. If your problems are more generalized (not something that is immediately pressing) I will ask you to give me a little history (family of origin, where you grew up, what your family relationships are like now). I need to know all about you, so it doesn't matter a lot whether you start with the present and work your way backward or with the beginning and work forward. I might ask questions for clarification. Usually this is all that we can accomplish in the first session.
Every therapist practices a little differently - we each have our own style as well as working from a particular school of thought - so not every first visit will go exactly like this. However, the first thing that has to be accomplished is an evaluation of the issue(s) and creating a plan to treat the issue(s). Goals will be defined and agreed upon. Then the work can truly begin.