Getting the most from Your Psychotherapy Sessions
For a psychologist to be able to master their trade and correctly assess their patient’s mental health, diagnose the condition, treat it and learn behavioral changes, they have to have specialization in psychotherapy which they can acquire after completing training that focuses on mastering their skills and broadening their knowledge. Truth is, a psychologist is not yet a psychologist even after they have graduated in a 4 year program in college or university as they still have to take another 7 years of education and training prior to earning their degree. This degree they hold can just be anything from EdD, PsyD or PhD.
As part of professional training that they have, aspiring psychologists need to finish a supervised clinical internship in organized health setting like hospitals. In many other states, it is integral for them to secure extra credits of post doctoral supervised experience; only then they can be allowed to practice independently in other fields of health care. It is basically this combination of their clinical internship and doctoral level training that made psychologist unique from other mental health care experts.
Before an individual successfully become a psychologist, they should pass first a national examination held by their state or the jurisdiction they want to practice their career. The reason for the implementation of licensure law is to protect public interests by way of limiting the licensure to qualified individuals. Many different states have mandated psychologists to secure certain number of hours for continuing education credits yearly to keep their license and continue working as one.
In the event that you are planning to take advantage either of employee assistance program or insurance to be able to settle the fees for psychotherapy, then you better start looking for psychologists who are accepting it. On the other hand, there are many different ways that you can do in finding a trusted and reputable psychologist like what is discussed below.
Tip number 1. Ask for referrals – you may ask an obstetrician or gynecologist, primary care physician, pediatrician or any other health professional if they can give you referrals for a trusted psychologist who can attend your needs. Say for example that you’re involved in legal issues, then the lawyer attending your case can be of help as well.
Tip number 2. Call the local state psychological association – this can literally make your search a lot easier because they usually have list of practicing psychologist that is prepared based on specialty or geographic area.
Tip number 3. Visit an online directory – as a matter of fact, there are various online directories for psychologists that you can rely on which can help you in finding practicing psychologists who are near you.
Psychologists may be working independently, with other psychologists or teaming up with other health care providers be it in hospitals, schools, colleges and so forth.
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