If you’ve been watching the A&E TV series “Hoarders”, you may have noticed that there are numerous mental health professionals working with the individuals in the Season 1 documentaries. According to emails I’m receiving, the initials following the doctors’ names are confusing. Several viewers are wondering what the difference is between a Ph.D, M.D., or MSW. And, what exactly is CBT? Hopefully, this will help clarify some of the confusion, chaos or conundrum about credentials.
First thing worth remembering is that there are several types of professionals qualified to help with mental health issues: psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, professional counselors, and psychiatric nurses are the most common. In order to earn their degree(s) each type of professional has to complete specific training and licensing requirements before they are legally allowed to provide specific types of treatment.
The Psychologist: Ph.D. and Psy.D.
In most of the 50 United States, a psychologist must have completed a doctoral degree (like a Ph.D. or Psy.D.) from a university program with specialized training and experience requirements, as well as successfully passed a licensure examination. Psychologists may offer psychotherapy and work with individuals, couples, families and groups; some psychologists are primarily involved with research, others in teaching.
While these doctors can offer specialized treatment for compulsive hoarders, they can’t prescribe any medications.
The Psychiatrist and Psychiatric Nurse: M.D. and APRN
Only a psychiatrist (M.D.) or psychiatric nurses in advanced practice, (APRN, in most states) are qualified to do that.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (M.D.) who specializes in mental disorders, is licensed to practice medicine, and has completed a specified amount of training. Psychiatrists can evaluate and diagnose all types of mental disorders, provide medical treatments and psychotherapy, and work with psychological problems associated with medical disorders.
Psychiatric nurses are registered professional nurses who have advanced academic degrees at the master’s level or above, and are qualified to practice independently and provide primary mental health care services to individuals, families, groups and communities.
More degrees, other professionals
When considering other mental health professionals, you may also find:
The MSW, or Clinical Social Worker
The MFT, Marriage and Family Therapist (can also have an MFCC license)
The LPC, or Licensed Practicing Counselor
The M.A. in Psychology, or Master’s Level Psychologist
Specialized Treatment for Hoarding: CBT
On the “Hoarders” series, you may also have heard about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or (CCBT) as a type of therapy used for treating compulsive hoarding.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of counseling that focuses on teaching clients to1:
gradually confront the things they fear in order to feel less afraid
learn healthier ways of coping with stressful situations
become aware of – and then change – the way they think in critical situations
To change the way you think means confronting beliefs behind specific behaviors. This is one of the major aspects of working with compulsive hoarding.
Some of those beliefs might be:
I better save this because I will probably need it sometime
If this possession might be of use to someone else, I am responsible for saving it for him or her
My memory is so bad I must leave this in sight or I’ll forget about it2
To learn more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and the treatment of hoarding, visit:
http://www.harthosp.org/InstituteOfLiving/AnxietyDisordersCenter/Compuls…
http://www.ocfoundation.org/hoarding/
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1 http://www.harthosp.org/InstituteOfLiving/AnxietyDisordersCenter/Treatme… (Dr. David Tolin is founder and director of the Anxiety Disorders Center.)
2 Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding Tolin, David; Frost, Randy O., Steketee, Gail. Oxford University Press, 2007.
