Counselors Near Me

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FAQs:

What Is Counseling?

Counseling is a process of talking about and working through your problems with a counselor. The counselor helps you to address your problems positively by helping you to clarify the issues, explore options, develop strategies, and increase self-awareness. For some people, just the process of telling their story to a counselor, and being listened to, is helpful. Counseling provides confidential support. This means that everything you discuss with the counselor is private, between you and the counselor. The exception is when a counselor has a duty of care to report something that threatens your wellbeing or the well-being of others. This legal requirement will be explained to you in your first counseling session.

What Do Counselors Do?

A counselor is a trained, objective professional with whom you can build a healing and trusting relationship. They are trained to offer different types of assistance; most frequently talk-based styles of therapy. A trained counselor is someone trained to offer talk-based therapy. There are many types of talk-based therapy. A counselor may work in partnership with a medical doctor or other health professionals at times to give comprehensive and integrated care.

What Is a Psychologist?

A psychologist is a trained mental health professional who helps people learn healthy ways to handle mental health challenges. They can help people living with specific conditions, like depression or anxiety, or those who are going through a tough time in life, like grieving the loss of a loved one. They undergo years of education and training to be able to provide a range of mental health services.

What are the Types of Psychologists?

There are 54 divisions of psychology, according to the APA. Some represent different disciplines of psychology, such as clinical or social, while others focus on topical areas like trauma or aging.

The most common types of psychologists include:

Clinical Psychologists

A Clinical Psychologist is what most commonly comes to mind when we refer to psychologists who work directly with a client. “Clinical psychologists can be described by the type of treatment they do, the type of patients they work with, or the setting they work in. One of the most common distinctions is whether someone does individual therapy or couples therapy and whether someone works with adults or children.

Counseling Psychologists

Counseling Psychologists help people navigate general physical, emotional, and mental stress. The goal is to alleviate distress, resolve crises and improve a person’s sense of well-being, adding that counseling psychologists are involved in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.

Cognitive Neuropsychologists

A cognitive neuropsychologist focuses on cognitive functioning, such as memory, attention, and problem-solving. “From their casework, they develop insights about how the brain processes information, including the brain regions.

Educational Psychologists

Educational psychologists study how people attain and retain knowledge to improve the learning process. By focusing on methods of teaching and the process of instruction, these psychologists look to improve success for those pursuing education, Wiley adds.

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

This division studies behavior in the office and uses research to help employees work better. Industrial-organizational psychologists are often hired externally by companies to assess and analyze employee performance, improve policies, and design interventions and training on everything from workplace bullying to discrimination and harassment.

Military Psychologists

A military psychologist helps service members and their families cope with the stress of being on the front line. These psychologists help to maintain mental health and morale in military members and families while applying psychological methods to contribute to assignments, evaluations, training, and at times, equipment design, according to the APA.

Can a Clinical Psychologist Write Prescriptions?

The answer to this question is that it depends on the location and industry of employment for the clinical psychologist. In the places that do allow clinical psychologists to prescribe medication, the psychologist may need to have additional training, certification, or licensure with the state government. Several industries of employment allow a clinical psychologist to prescribe medication. The Indian Health Service, which is a part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, allows this. The military also allows clinical psychologists to prescribe medications to personnel. Private practice and publicly-employed clinical psychologists are allowed to prescribe medications in a few states, and several additional states are considering legislation that would allow this activity. There are five states where clinical psychologists can prescribe medication: Louisiana, New Mexico, Illinois, Iowa, and Idaho.

What is the Difference Between a Counselor, a Social Worker, a Psychiatrist and a Psychologist?

A Psychiatrist is a trained medical doctor with further training in psychiatry and can prescribe medicines for mental illnesses.

A Psychologist is a trained person at the doctoral level in psychology; generally can NOT write prescriptions although New Mexico just passed a law allowing them to do so with further training.

A Social Worker usually works with family systems in courts, hospitals, government, or private practice. Social workers often manage cases assisting people to find resources. Social workers will either have their bachelor's or master's degrees.

A Counselor, with a Master's degree, has studied diagnosis, appraisal, human development, career and life span, counseling theories, group systems, research methods, etc. He or she works with individuals and families assisting them to become "unstuck" or work through issues troubling them.

What is the Difference Between a Counselor and a Therapist?

Therapists often focus on diagnosing and treating mental health conditions. Counselors, on the other hand, tend to help with life challenges. However, there is an overlap. Therapists can support life challenges and counselors can work with people who have mental health conditions. Additionally, therapists and counselors often work with the same populations who experience similar challenges.

In general, the differences between therapists and counselors include:

- Counselors tend to offer short-term care, while therapists tend to offer long-term care.

- Therapists can be more past-focused and counselors more future-focused.

- Counselors often have a set number of sessions, and therapists often work on an ongoing basis.

- Therapists are more likely to treat mental health conditions.

- Counselors are more likely to support life challenges such as relationship difficulties, job changes, or adjusting after a move.

- Therapists tend to do more in-depth mental health work.

What Do Mental Health Counselors Do?

The Mental Health Counselor will counsel individuals and groups to promote optimum mental healthThe Mental Health Counselor will help individuals deal with thoughts of suicide; addictions and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; problems with self-esteem; and issues associated with aging and mental and emotional health.

How Long Does Each Counseling Session Last?

This answer varies on the type of counseling you're getting. 

Individual Counseling

If you're going for individual counseling, then your session will last approximately 50-55 minutes. This 50-55 minute is referred to as a "therapeutic hour." This is standard practice, although some clinicians will offer 45-minute sessions or 60-minute sessions.

Couples Counseling

Couples counseling is a little bit different than an individual. The first three sessions are all right around 85 minutes (just a hair little less than 90) and are focused on assessment.

What is the Cost of Counseling?

Individuals seek counseling for many reasons, focusing on social, psychological, or personal difficulties. When you speak with a general counselor, expect to spend between $50 and $80 per session. Some offices will offer individuals access to student counselors who are available for as little as $20 per hour. These low rates are most often accessible to those living in low-income households. In this case, a student counselor is typically supervised by a registered psychologist who has a minimum of five years of experience.

The Counseling Process 

When a person seeks counseling, he or she suffers from something serious be it mental issues, emotional problems, or family problems. The process isn’t rushed but rather involves a systematic evaluation that includes a detailed process. The counseling process involves a step-by-step approach and the counselor conducts it in a way to make sure that his client is comfortable with the process. Let's have a look at the five crucial stages of a counseling process. 

 1. Building a Warm Relationship 

When you are hitting up a counselor to discuss your problems, you ought to suffer from any serious issue concerning academics, relationships, career, or anything else. The first thing your expert does is to make yourself comfortable around him/her. He focuses on developing a warm relationship and mutual trust first to make sure you do not hesitate while speaking about the problems you are facing. 

 2. Analysis

Now comes the second part, which is assessment. In this stage, the professional encourages you to speak in detail about your problems to grab the roots of the problem. He observes every minute detail from how you are speaking to your reactions to certain questions that might come from his end. Once he assesses the problem, the goal is fixed. 

3. Setting the Goal

After a thorough evaluation of your problems, now comes the significant section of goal setting. Considering the issues you are facing the counselor sets a goal. That can be either you overcoming the problem or reconciling with it. 

 4. Plan of Action 

The counselor plans an action for you to practice to see the results. Suppose someone has public speaking fear, The expert might ask him to practice speaking in front of the mirror. This is just an instance. Once you go through the plan for the desired tenure, he assesses your improvement. If things seem normal, you are at the final stage! If not, he might design something different. 

 5. Overcoming the Problem 

As I mentioned in the previous point after you follow the plan of action the consequent results are taken into consideration. If things seem to go in the right direction and you start feeling relaxed, yes! You have achieved your goal.

Types of Counselors

Mental Health Counselor

Mental health counselors specialize in providing support to clients who experience mental health disorders and conditions that can affect their daily lives. Many mental health counselors use therapeutic practices and activities to help their clients navigate challenges and develop healthy routines that can improve the way they live. 

Trauma Counselor

Trauma counselors specialize in helping clients who experience traumatic events that can impact their physical or emotional well-being. This can involve supporting customers as they process traumatic events, providing therapy, and creating treatment plans. 

Marriage Counselor

A marriage counselor primarily works with married couples to help them navigate the challenges they experience within their marriage. This typically involves observing how couples behave and interact with each other and additional members of the family to identify areas they might be able to improve to create a happier, healthier life at home. 

Rehabilitation Counselor

Rehabilitation counselors specialize in working with people who have disabilities that can affect their ability to complete certain tasks. Some rehabilitation counselors focus on clients with a specific disability, such as blindness, spinal cord industry, or psychiatric disability.

Bereavement Counselor

Bereavement counselors are grief therapists who assist clients struggling to deal with the death of loved ones. They help grieving clients who found it difficult to accept that their close relative, friend, or even pet has died. Some clients might be suffering grief from divorce, a job loss, retirement, trauma, or relocation. For months to years after the loss, bereavement counselors coach clients on ways to relieve their pain. They address common grief symptoms, including uncontrollable crying, denial, sorrow, shock, and eating disturbances.

Nutritional Counselor

Nutritional counselors are food gurus who seek to modify problematic eating behaviors for a healthier diet. They fortify clients’ motivation for consuming a healthy mix of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. They guide clients toward physical health goals to prevent medical diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Nutritional counselors help clients with obesity, hypothyroidism, depression, and binge eating disorder lose extra pounds.

Child Pediatric Counselor

The main goal of a child pediatric counselor is to primarily help children assess their problems and to try to teach them how to manage emotions like anxiety, grief, and depression. Not only does a child counselor help their patient, but by providing valuable insight into a child's thoughts, actions, and emotions, a counselor can help the children's parents better understand how to best approach their youth in times of difficulty. More specifically, a child counselor's goal is to help children better understand the emotions they are experiencing in a way that they can process. Doing so gives the child the ability to work through these emotions and live a healthy, happy life.

Substance Abuse Counselor

Substance abuse counselors are addiction treatment specialists who strive to end cycles of alcohol and drug abuse. They design rehabilitation plans to get clients sober from substances like cocaine, heroin, tobacco, meth, and marijuana. Substance abuse counselors begin by assessing clients’ addiction history and readiness for treatment. They give much-needed emotional support during the hard substance withdrawal process and watch for side effects, including delirium tremens.

Sports Counselor

Sports counselors are athletic consultants who evaluate how mental health affects performance on the field or court. They run psychological assessments on athletes and identify ways to boost performance. Sports counselors discuss hurdles that are holding athletes back and find tactics to jump over them. They teach athletes how to relieve anxiety and better prepare for focus during games or matches.

Types of Counseling

Individual Counseling

Individual counseling is a personal opportunity to receive support and experience growth during challenging times in life. Individual counseling can help one deal with many personal topics in life such as anger, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, marriage and relationship challenges, parenting problems, school difficulties, career changes, etc.

Couples Counseling

Every couple experiences ups and downs in their levels of closeness and harmony over time. This can range from basic concerns of stagnation to serious expressions of aggressive behavior. Marriage counseling or couples counseling can help resolve conflicts and heal wounds. Overall, couples counseling can help couples slow down their spiral and reestablish realistic expectations and goals.

Family Counseling

Family counseling is often sought due to a life change or stress negatively affecting one or all areas of family closeness, family structure (rules and roles), or communication style. This mode of counseling can take a variety of forms. Sometimes it is best to see an entire family together for several sessions.  Common issues addressed in family counseling are concerns around parenting, sibling conflict, loss of family members, new members entering the family, dealing with a major move, or a general change affecting the family system.

Group Counseling

Group counseling allows one to find out that they are not alone in their type of life challenge. Being involved in a group of peers who are in a similar place not only increases one’s understanding of the struggles around the topic but also the variety of possible solutions available. Typically, groups have up to eight participants, one or two group leaders, and revolve around a common topic like anger management, self-esteem, divorce, domestic violence, recovery from abuse and trauma, and substance abuse and recovery.

Telephonic Sessions 

A great alternative to in-person counseling sessions is telephonic rounds that can be scheduled from the comfort of your home. Telephonic counseling rounds are best for busy individuals who might find it difficult to get into the chambers. In this flexible process, you can discuss the problems with the counselor in a secure environment from your room.  

Online Counselling

If you wish not to meet your counselor face to face and protect your anonymity, you have the option to email the counselor. In this process, you have the scope to think well and decide which of the problems you want to discuss with him. The online counseling trend is becoming much more popular these days. 

Common Reasons People Seek Counseling

Anyone who is struggling with a personal concern can seek counseling. No issue is too big or too small to ask for support. Common issues that people seek counseling for include:

- grief and loss

- communication and relationships issues

- work and career issues

- stress, anxiety, and depression

- life transitions such as the birth of a new baby, separation, divorce, or the death of a family member or friend

- parenting

- addiction

- abuse

- trauma

- self-esteem difficulties

- exploring gender identity and/or sexuality.

Goals of Counseling

Different individuals have different perceptions of what can be expected of counseling. Individuals preparing to become counselors, and those who seek counseling, as well as parents, teachers, school administrators, and governmental agencies, all differ in their expectations of the counseling experience. The final designation of these goals is to be determined by the counselor and the client as a team. Counseling theorists do not always agree on appropriate counseling goals because they are often general, vague, and saturated with implications. However, these are the five most commonly named goals of counseling:

- Facilitating behavior change

- Improving the client’s ability to establish and maintain relationships

- Enhancing the client’s effectiveness and ability to cope

- Promoting the decision-making process and facilitating client potential

- Development

Questions to Ask When Choosing a Counselor

When choosing a counselor, it is a good idea to find out the following:

- what approach the counselor will take

- whether a professional body accredits them

- how many sessions do clients of the counselor typically attend

- what are the counselor’s main fields of interest and experience are

- proof of their specialist training

- how long have they been working as a counselor

- an estimate of their fees. Some counselors (for example, those who work in universities or community health centers) may be free or may charge very low fees. Others may charge anywhere from $40 to $150 (or more) per hour. Keep in mind that the price may have no bearing on the quality of service.

Not all counselors have the same approach and you may need to try more than one counselor to find one that best suits your needs.

What to Expect in Counseling

The First Meeting

- Your therapist may ask what brings you to therapy, your concerns, and any symptoms you experience. He/she may ask you to complete some questionnaires.

- Your therapist may want to learn about your childhood, education, work history, current relationships, and long-term goals.

- Opening up can be hard, and it may take time for you to trust your therapist. It is OK to say that you do not feel ready to talk about something difficult right now.

- Your thoughts and feelings will help your therapist understand you and how to help. It is important that you feel comfortable enough to say what is on your mind.

Following Meetings

- The rest of therapy is devoted to helping you understand and resolve problems and to helping you achieve the changes you want.

- Therapists take different approaches. Some will be more directive, providing feedback on your progress, homework exercises to practice some of the techniques learned in therapy, or suggestions of what he/she thinks might be helpful. Others will give you more space to draw your conclusions and direct the course of therapy.

- How much you get out of therapy will depend on the work you put into it.  It is important to follow up on homework or goals between therapy sessions.

- Therapists may be willing to adapt their style to your needs, so it is important to discuss your preferences.

- Improvement is faster if your therapist can understand and relate positively to you, and you can work together on goals you both agree on.

- A good therapist will guide and support you, and challenge you when you are ready to be challenged.

- It is normal to disagree with your therapist from time to time. When this happens, it is crucial to honestly share your feelings or concerns. This will help you and your therapist to agree on how to handle this.

The First Counseling Session

Your first session will help you to decide whether this counselor is the right one for you. 

Questions to ask yourself include:

1. Do I feel comfortable?

2. Am I able to talk freely about deeply personal thoughts and emotions?

3. Is the counselor paying attention to me?

4. Do I feel they understand and respect me?

5. Has the counselor discussed a plan with me about how we will manage my issues or concerns?

If you decide that the counselor isn’t right for you, don’t go back. You are under no obligation to continue seeing a counselor if you aren’t comfortable with them.

Number Of Counseling Sessions

It is reasonable to ask the counselor at the end of the first session for an estimate of how many sessions they think you will need. However, remember that this is only an estimate. Some problems can be successfully resolved in a few sessions. In other cases, talking about the particular problem with the counselor may bring up deeper, unresolved issues that need further exploration.

How Do I Find a Good Counselor

While there are a lot of therapists offering their services, finding someone you like takes dedicated effort, especially if you have never seen a therapist before. Many professions offer therapy. In addition to psychology, some of these include psychiatry, social work, and counseling.

Here are some of the more important issues you should consider:

- Is the therapist licensed? Each state is responsible for making sure therapists are competent to provide their services. Only those with proper training receive a license.

- If you have health insurance, will it cover the therapy from this provider?

- Are there limits to the number of sessions covered by your insurance?

Two websites for locating psychologists include the Psychologist Locator on the website of the American Psychological Association and the National Register. 

Another way to find a therapist is to ask friends or your physician to suggest someone they trust.

While it is not too difficult to find the name of a therapist, it may take more time to find a therapist that you consider to be “good.” Here are some helpful hints:

- Call the therapist on the phone and find out if the therapist is familiar with evidence-based treatment for your concerns and if your therapist uses evidence-based treatment in their practice. These are treatments that have been tested scientifically and shown to be effective. Evidence-based treatment (e.g. for depression, anxiety, panic attacks, bedwetting for children, and obsessive-compulsive behavior) is based on published research of controlled studies meeting acceptable criteria.

- Ask whether the therapist has had experience in dealing with your concerns. Some therapists specialize in working with children or families, adults or older adults. Some may have lots of experience with the problems that concern you. Find out, if possible, how much experience they have had.

- Find out in advance what the fees will cost you, the charge for missed sessions, and, if possible, how long therapy might take.

- Find out where the therapist is located, what hours are available for your treatment, and if the therapist will see you in an emergency. Is the therapist located in a clinic, community mental health center, medical school, independent practice, or another setting? Find out what kind of therapy your potential therapist is likely to provide (for example, long-term versus short-term, individual or group therapy, what theoretical orientation) and see if that fits your expectations.

- Remember that choosing a therapist is a very personal matter. No therapist is good for everyone. It is important that you feel a sense of trust and that this therapist can help you.

Sources:

Better Health

South Dakota Counseling Association

Owlcation

Alliant

SHRM

Very Well Health

WebMd

Forbes

Edumilestones

TCS

Thervo

Depression

The Counseling Hub

APA

 

The content herein is provided for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Medical information changes constantly, and therefore the content on this website should not be assumed to be current, complete or exhaustive. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. If you think you may have a medical emergency, please call your doctor or 9-1-1 (in the United States) immediately.