Therapy speak, explained (sorta)
Hi there, welcome to Mission Road Counseling’s blog. I’m Gina, and I am Mission Road Counseling. There’s no team over here, no admin, just me doing all the things for a small business comprised of one. Thankfully I’m pretty organized, although I struggle to remember to change my vacation voicemail back to regular voicemail every. single. time. It drives me nuts, but this is one of the many things I’m learning/have learned to simply accept about myself.
But I digress. It occurred to me recently how confusing it must be for potential clients to read bios of clinicians and wonder what the heck they are talking about. It occurred to me because I struggle to know what all the letters and “therapy speak” mean. Anyone remember the Saved by the Bell episode where the class ring salesman hands Zack his business card that reads “Gem Diamond, GGTK”? He says it stands for “Good Guy to Know”. I mean, it’s funny, but it also points to the ridiculousness of all those letters! And now you know that I watched entirely too much 90s television.
So I’m going to give you a brief breakdown of some of the most common credentials for therapists, and a quick and (hopefully) helpful explanation of the language I use on this website. Please note- this is not official or comprehensive- this is, in the spirit of Alison Roman’s words, “one woman’s opinion on {therapy credentials and therapy speak}”.
So here we go.
Licensed: “Licensed” means a person has taken a licensure exam for the state they are in (Tennessee for me), and is subject to the laws and ethics mandated by that state to maintain licensure. Licensure is a good thing because it means a clinician can’t go rogue without accountability- they are required to abide by the standards outlined in their licensure process which is usually a bunch of hours for supervision, continuing education hours, and lots of money paid to the state.
LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor): Licensed Professional Counselors are trained more on the individual level of symptom diagnosis and treatment. Their training is geared toward looking at the individual specifically. LPCs see all kinds of clientele in all kinds of settings; the designation is a reflection of their training, not who they specifically work with..
LMFT (Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist): Marriage and Family Therapist means that a clinician’s training encompasses family systems and has an emphasis on marriage as well. MFTs curriculum is geared toward looking at the individual, couple, or relationship through the lens of their family of origin and current relationships. MFTs see all kinds of individual and/or pairs of clients (whether couple, family, sibling, etc.); the designation is a reflection of their training, not their clientele.
LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker): Licensed Clinical Social Workers means that a clinician has been trained to do treatment through (and with) the lens of wider systems, such as social, cultural, and institutional systems. Like LPCs and LMFTs, LCSWs see all kinds of clientele; the designation is a reflection of their training, not who they specifically work with.
All three designations require a Master’s degree and all three are able to diagnose and treat mental health disorders. As for me, I’m an LMFT, and even though I technically can diagnose people with mental health disorders, I don’t. I prefer to take the approach of one of my professors (Dr. Teri Murphy) from grad school: “Everyone makes sense in the context of their story.”
Here’s a brief explanation of the therapy language I use in my profile:
DARTT (Developmental and Relational Trauma Therapist): This means I am certified in a model of therapy called Healing Our Core Issues (HOCI; I know, this is getting out of control). The HOCI model focuses on early childhood trauma, specifically neglect and abandonment, and how it shows up today and hinders adult functioning. Work is geared toward helping clients get the story from childhood straight, grieve their childhood, celebrate the good in their childhood as well as their own resilience, and become their own metaphorical loving parent.
Attachment-focused: Attachment is the concept of how early childhood experiences shape a person’s ability to form and maintain healthy adult relationships. In short, it’s how we learn to love and be loved.
Faith-based: What I mean by this is that I am a Christian and therefore that informs my beliefs about the value of the human body, the human soul, all of creation, and from Whom that value comes. I do not expect my clients to share my same beliefs. I do tell my clients that I promise to respect their right to believe or not believe as they choose and I simply ask that they do the same for me. I think it’s important to state that I am faith-based so that clients can make an informed decision about whether or not they want to do their healing journey with me as their guide. It matters. You don’t get me without God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
I suppose that’s enough for now. I’ll come back and post more about other terms like “somatic” and “regulation”, “spiritual direction” and such. But thanks for being here. I pray God bless you in concrete ways on your healing journey, wherever you are on it.
