Deciding between a Therapist, Counselor or Coach

Deciding on a provider for therapy in Baltimore

How to choose the right fit provider

It can be difficult enough to know you're struggling and be finally willing to seek the help of therapy.

In the following post, I share a bit more information to differentiate between mental health providers I ultimately hope that this helps you determine who is going to best meet your needs for therapy in Baltimore.

Therapists or counselors can often be interchangeable terms and provide similar services. They are both considered mental health professionals. 

Sometimes the title of counselor depending on the setting - like inpatient, rehabilitation or higher level of care may signify programmatic specific support or shorter-term work. These would be questions that you could ask that specific provider when you schedule a consultation for therapy in Baltimore.

How to pick a mental health professional that will meet your needs for therapy

So therapists or counselors (LCPCs, LMFTs, LCSWs, LCSW-Cs - to name a few… we love acronyms in this field!), in the state of Maryland are generally masters level clinicians, who have had supervision, testing and continuing education requirements to be secure and maintain their licensure. 

LCPC - license clinical professional counselor

LCSW -  license clinical social worker

LCSW-C -  licensed clinical social worker with an emphasis on counseling

LMFT -  licensed marriage and family therapist

Any other letters behind someone's name likely signify their certification in a specific therapeutic modality or level of experience in that modality. 

What’s the difference between a therapist and a prescriber?

Therapists can also be Psychologists. These folks are doctorate level clinicians who can provide therapy. Psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners can prescribe medications but often do not provide therapy to clients. Some providers do not practice clinically at all and instead work in research or other lines of direct service. 

Deciding between a therapist or life coach

Therapists will often have an emphasis on who you are, understanding your lived experiences, how you’ve coped and that this is necessary in order to help continue to create change. While it's true that therapists focus on emotions and mental wellbeing, your work together should be targeted, productive and like you’re getting somewhere week after week.

Life coaches often frame their work as solution focused, goals oriented and may place less emphasis on emotional and relational aspects, impact of attachment, trauma history and lived experience. 

In my experience, life coaches typically refer out when trauma seems to be causing progress to treatment or the challenges of the client are feeling out of their scope. Life coaches do not have the same education or licensing requirements as therapists. Therapists can provide coaching, but coaches can’t provide therapy. The term “coaching” is also becoming more common and sometimes can refer to a professional relationship between therapists or lead into territory of clinical consultation.

So big takeaways here:  today in Baltimore, Maryland there are lots of different types of helping professionals who can support you to meet your goals. 

I believe the greatest way you're going to understand if and how someone can truly help you is by scheduling a consultation for therapy in Baltimore.  

If you're feeling overwhelmed after reading all this content and don't know where to begin please reach out. I'd love to help  answer your questions and get you to the right professional. 

As an LCPC, I’ve spent the last decade working with people who live with chronic stress and trauma. I have a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and specialized training in parts work/ IFS, Brainspotting and EMDR to support people with multiple types of traumatic experiences. I practice as a somatic therapist and work with the nervous system. I have also been a licensed Perinatal Mental Health Certified practitioner (PMH-C) since 2021.

My specialties include perinatal and maternal mental health, trauma and toxic relationships. I frequently work with reproductive loss and fertility issues, anxiety in pregnancy, birth trauma, postpartum depression and anxiety, addiction and folks who identify with the label of Borderline Personality Disorder.

I know it can feel like a big step to contact a therapist, but I’ll make it straight forward. We’ll spend 15-minutes on the phone or have a video consultation and I’ll let you know how or if I can help. And if I am not the right person, I’ll do my best to get you to the right person.

Feel free to comment below and start a conversation!