Beginner's Guide to Therapy

Video Transcript

CAROLYN MCINTYRE: My name is Carolyn McIntyre. I'm a licensed clinical social worker, a certified employee assistance professional, and I have training in life coaching. This clip is a beginner's guide to therapy. When people think about seeing a therapist, it's often confusing because you don't know who do I turn to? Who does therapy and what kinds of therapy are offered? There are many different kinds of professionals who offer therapy but the one's who do most therapy are licensed clinical social workers and psychologists. Some people will ask me why do people see a therapist and also psychiatrist and in those cases, those are situations where a person might need a medication as well as therapy. Psychiatrists are licensed medical doctors and can prescribe medications for anxiety, depression, ADD, OCD, or other conditions licensed clinical social workers and psychologists are not authorized to prescribe medication so that's why some people see both a therapist and a psychiatrist. However, most people don't need medication and most people in my practice I'm seeing are getting individual therapy but don't necessarily need a medication. When you look for a therapist, the first thing you want is to experience feeling comfortable, feeling safe, you're feeling that this is a person that you can trust an open up to. If you don't feel comfortable with the therapist in the first session, I recommend that you don't continue, continue to look until you find somebody that makes you feel at ease and makes you feel comfortable and where you feel understood about the concerns that you are bringing to the therapy. You want to find out about the therapist's training and background. Some therapists specialize in treating certain diagnosis such as depression, other ones specialize in trauma, and also different therapists have different techniques that they use in the therapy. Some therapists use psychoanalysis which is inside-oriented. Some therapists do kind of the behavioral therapy which focuses on changing behaviors. Some therapists also use hypnosis or stress management techniques as part if the therapy. You want to let the therapist know if you're taking any medications and you want to let the therapist know if there are any health conditions or substance abuse issues in your family. When you see the therapist for the first time, think about what it is that you want to work on and set goals for therapy and make those clear to the therapist in the first session. So the five key points that you want to remember in thinking about therapy is find a therapist who's licensed, who has years of experience and is somebody that you feel comfortable with in the first session. Set goals for therapy, think about what you want to work on, let the therapist know if you are taking any medications and if you have any health issues.