Therapist Titles, or “What Do Those Letters After Your Name Mean?”

I’m a therapist. If you’ve ever looked for a therapist, you’ll see a TON of different acronyms after people’s names. I get asked all the time what the difference is between these acronyms, and why they are important.

Disclaimer: this article is based on my own experiences as a practitioner in Oregon and in Washington, DC, and is not meant to be exhaustive on a global or national scale.

• Clinician and practitioner are fairly interchangeable terms that can apply to any level of training. Generally, these refer to anyone with related education who works with people on medical or mental health concerns in a therapeutic or medical setting.
• Therapist is a general term for someone who provides therapy. This can mean the standard type of talk therapy, but it can also include things like art therapy, music therapy, etc. Basically, a therapist is a person who uses interventions to treat health conditions. Sometimes, depending on the state, the use of the term “therapist” or “psychotherapist” may be restricted to specific educational training or licensure. Some people may also refer to physical or occupational therapists as simply “therapists”, but I’ve never actually met one of those professionals who refers to themselves that way. (I’m sure they’re out there!)
• MD/DO: Psychiatrists generally have MD (Doctor of Medicine) or DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) after their name. They are medical doctors who specialize in mental health and medications. Some psychiatrists see people for therapy sessions, some do not. Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners, Physician’s Assistants, and regular old doctors can also prescribe mental health medications.
• PMHNP/RN: Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners are registered nurses — RN’s — who have lots of extra school that allows them to also prescribe medications. These practitioners may have some training in therapy, but tend to act in a more medical capacity.
• PA: Physician’s Assistants are medical professionals who practice basic medicine under the care and supervision of another licensed physician, usually one of those MDs/DOs we talked about above. They can sometimes prescribe mental health medications.
• PhD/PsyD: Psychologists generally have PhD or PsyD after their name; both are doctoral degrees, and both practitioner types are referred to as “Dr. So-And-So.” One of the major differences between PhD and PsyD is that during the course of getting their degree, PhD programs tend to focus more on research, while PsyD programs tend to be more focused on clinical practice (aka, face-to-face counseling) and theory. Both are perfectly capable of providing therapy. Additionally, the term psychotherapy is sometimes reserved exclusively for psychologists and psychiatrists to use to describe their practice, though this depends on the state.
• LCSW/LICSW: Licensed Clinical Social Workers usually have Master’s degrees, and their education may focus more on systems (ie, looking at people as parts of communities and groups) and social justice issues. They can work as therapists, and in general, provide very similar services to counselors. Their acronyms may differ from the above based on state, but generally have the letters LCSW in there somewhere.
• LMFT: Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists are practitioners with specialized training and experience related to serving children, couples and families. Some states regulate LMFT status and experience separately from experience with individual clients.
• LPC/LCPC: Licensed Professional Counselors also have Masters degrees, though some have PhDs. They have similar training to social workers, but their education generally focuses on clinical practice itself. Often, counselors wind up with a lot of experience working with clients over the course of their education. Again, the specific acronyms can vary by state.
• LGPC: A common code used for Licensed Graduate Professional Counselors. Therapists of all varieties have different levels of licensure/certification, and are often required to undergo significant experience and supervision from a fully licensed professional (often an LPC) after graduate school to be able to be fully certified and licensed to provide therapy without supervision. States also use varying acronyms, which can be incredibly confusing. In Oregon, the pre-licensure term is LPC Intern, which from my experience is incredibly confusing to clients and out-of-state boards, since internship is commonly the term for work completed before graduation from your graduate program.
• QMHP: Qualified Mental Health Professionals are people who are certified (usually by the state or county) to have had sufficient training in mental health fields to provide any kind of specialized service to people with mental health conditions. This can be anyone from the listings above, and in some states, also includes people who have bachelor’s degrees in human services fields like psychology or sociology. Some states have a second tier of professional designation, QMHA (Qualified Mental Health Associate), which tends to specify people who have a bachelor’s degree or below. This, again, is different on a state by state and sometimes county by county basis. Often, these designations are only used by providers who work in community-funded mental health programs.
• Life Coaches are people who provide advice and coaching related to personal and professional goals. They are not therapists, and do not provide therapy. Becoming a life coach does not require any form of advanced degree; however, there is a certification/accreditation process that can be pursued. They do not treat mental health conditions, and generally do not work on past issues and concerns with their clients. Generally, they have not received advanced training in psychology, but rather, their training is geared towards productivity, motivation, and goal setting.

When it comes to the differences between psychologists, social workers and counselors, in my experience, the differences aren’t likely to be things you see as part of the counseling process. Generally, the differences lie in the focus of a person’s education, but we’re all capable of providing high quality and effective therapy.

Life coaches focus on immediate, lifestyle-related concerns, such as organization, goal setting, and wellness; however, the services they provide are not therapy.

Now, as far as what I do? I am a counselor first and foremost. It would also be accurate to call me a therapist, a clinician, or a mental health practitioner. However, I do not have a PhD or medical degree, so I cannot call myself ‘Doctor’ or prescribe medications.

Other acronyms you might see for all levels of practitioners:

• MS/MA — Type of Masters degree (Master of Science / Master of Art)
• RAT — Registered Art Therapist
• CADC I/II — Certified Addictions/Drug Counselor
• CRC — Certified Rehabilitation Counselor
• NCC/NBCC — Nationally (Board) Certified Counselor
• There are others — many others. If you don’t recognize something, search engines are your friends!

Other websites with more information, if you’re interested:

• American Psychiatric Association (APA): Official organization representing Psychiatrists in America. Section entitled: ‘What Is Psychiatry?’
• American Psychological Association (also APA): Official organization representing Psychologists in America. Check out their definition of ‘Psychologist.’
• American Counseling Association (ACA): Official organization representing Counselors in America. Learn about what counselors do.
• National Association of Social Workers (NASW): Official organization representing Social Workers in America. (HelpStartshere.org is created and maintained by the NASW.) You can find the official NASW website here.
• International Coach Federation: Coaching FAQs.