FAQs about Counseling, therapy, psychotherapy, and coaching in college Park, maryland

Doesn’t it always feel like answers are just a bit further away?

So, you are thinking about getting some support for yourself but you’re not exactly sure what you’re looking for and how best to evaluate what you need.

FAQs about therapy and counseling in College park, maryland

There are questions that people often have when considering therapy/counseling or that come up in the first few sessions. I’ll try to answer a few of them below and hopefully provide a little more clarity.

Question #1: How do I know if I need counseling/therapy?

Chances are that, if you are asking this question, that you have been considering getting some support for a while. Most people try to figure things out for themselves before seeking professional help. They might try making changes on their own, or talk with friends, or hope that the rough patch is behind them when things look like they are getting better for a bit. But, the problem is, the issue isn’t getting resolved and you find that it keeps coming up. You deserve support to help you move forward. Sometimes people put it off, thinking, “It’s not that bad. I’m still doing ok in my life”. But you don’t have to have things tumbling down around you in order to benefit from support. If you’re looking to make a change for yourself and your DIY approach hasn’t quite worked, there can be great value it working with someone that specializes in helping guide and facilitate changes.

Question #2: What should I ask a therapist before meeting with them?

The big thing you really want to know is: Can this person help me with the problem that I’m having and do I feel comfortable working with them? Many therapists will offer a complimentary phone consultation so you can talk with them and feel this out a bit. You can let them know what you are looking for help with and ask about their experience and approach to working with this. You can also ask about how they work in-general—do they see clients in-person or virtually, how often do they meet with clients, how long are sessions? And while you are asking these questions, you can get a little bit of an idea of how they communicate and their personality so you can begin to figure out if you might be a good fit to work together.

Question #3: How long will therapy last?

This has no set answer—it depends on what you are working on and what you are looking for. In the first few sessions, it’s a good idea to set goals for therapy, to know what it would look like if you felt like therapy had been successful for you. With these goals in mind, we can then create a plan to work towards them, have a way to track progress over time, and know when you’ve met your goals. Some goals are short-term and some are longer-term—what you bring to the table sets the stage for how this goes.

Question #4: What is the difference between a counselor, therapist, social worker, and psychologist in college park and throughout maryland?

Lots of different titles for folks working it the world of mental health! Some of the words used have specific meanings and some have meanings that are a little looser—I’ll try to break them down a little bit and see if that helps. A psychologist is someone that has an advanced degree and license in psychology. One really specific thing that many of them can do that other mental health professionals cannot is administer psychological/educational testing. This is really important if you need to figure out what might be going on with some learning challenges and need documentation in order to get essential supports. Some psychologists do therapy, some do testing, some do research, or a mix of tasks—be sure to ask if the person you are talking to does the task you need. The words counselor and therapist are often used interchangeably to refer to someone that does psychotherapy with individuals, families and/or groups in schools, agencies, health care settings and in private practices. Mental health professionals in these roles can come from a variety of educational and licensing backgrounds—counseling, social work, or psychology. Social workers have an educational degree in social work and can work in a variety of positions—doing therapy or policy work or advocacy or administration. In the state of Maryland, social workers that provide therapy on their own have completed years of supervised work experience and passed a series of licensing exams, after completing their graduate degree. All licensed mental health providers—whether from the fields of counseling, social work or psychology—are required to engage in ongoing continuing education to maintain their licenses. None of us can prescribe medication—you need someone in the medical field for that: a psychiatrist, a primary care doctor or a psychiatric nurse practitioner.

Question #5: what about coaching?

Many mental health professionals do some coaching and many coaches do not have any training in mental health. Anyone can call themselves a coach for the purposes of helping someone work on a particular skill set or personal growth—it does not require any license, education or experience. At some point, I’ll do a blog post with a deeper dive on the differences between coaching and therapy but here’s some basic information in the meantime…. Although both coaching and psychotherapy use knowledge of human behavior, motivation, behavioral change and interactive counseling techniques, there are differences in the goals, focus and level of professional responsibility. Coaching is usually a short-term, time-limited process to work on something specific that is outside the realm of diagnosing and treating mental health disorders. Mental health professionals may offer coaching for issues that fit those criteria. For more information about coaching services I provide, see my Coaching page.

Question #6: Do you have experience working with the issues I am looking for help with?

Like we talked about up in Question #2, this is the big question folks are looking to have answered when considering enlisting professional support because you have probably already been struggling with an issue for a while and need to know that the person you are going to work with has some ideas about how to help you make progress. After more than 20 years of professional experience, it would be impossible to go over all the issues that I do and don’t work with in a super quick answer so I’ll give you some general information and encourage you to get in touch with me if you want to ask me about your unique situation. I work with individual clients only and encourage folks looking for couples or family treatment to seek out specialists in these areas because they are best equipped to give you the support you need in the most effective manner. Feel free to check out some of my specialty pages and my About section to learn more about a few of the speciality topics and populations that I love working with, or contact me to ask about your specific situation. Information about my practice and services can be found through my home page.

Reach Out for support from a maryland therapist

I hope this helps you find the right therapist in Maryland. If you are still feeling stuck, feel free to call me at (301) 818-3978 or contact me here for a free 15-minute phone consultation. I’d be happy to hear about what is happening and see if I can help point you in the right direction so you can get the support or assistance you need and deserve.