What Is A Mental Health Expert?
Mental health has really taken off in the mainstream conversation in the past several years. This is fantastic for so many reasons, one of which is that it has significantly reduced the stigma around mental health. Just like your physical health needs attention, so does your mental wellbeing and it’s truly a gift that we are all starting to embrace this more fully. The expansion and normalization of mental health has largely been driven by the internet and social media. It’s a powerful tool for reaching people across broad spectrums of experience. We also know that our new technology age has some downsides. Not the least of which is that anyone can market themselves online in any number of forums, as an expert of just about anything and start doing work that they are not equipped to be doing safely. This is very true in the mental health sphere and I want to take some space here to explore this concept so that you can be aware of the people you trust your mental health with.
What Makes A Mental Health Professional An Expert?
Plainly, a mental health expert is someone who has the following credentials:
An advanced degree in psychology, psychiatry, counseling, or social work. This means that they have a masters or doctorate degree from an accredited educational institution.
An active, unrestricted license to practice in the state that they reside. Some providers are licensed in more than one state and there are interstate licensing pacts coming online that allow some providers to practice among most US states. They must have an active license to be practicing mental health services legally, no matter where they live.
Several years of experience, supervision from a more advanced provider, and preferably participation in a peer consultation group. Licensing is issued in phases, depending on the number of hours and years the professional has been in practice. Someone with a full license is going to have more expertise than someone who is still under training.
Specific and extensive training in any are that they specialize in. A provider that cliams to be an expert or specialized couples counselor but has no specific couples counseling training, is not an expert in this specialty.
Professionals To Consider Carefully
As mentioned previously, with the rise in the ability to market oneself to the masses, comes the rise in unqualified individuals providing professional services that they are not trained in. It would likely be obvious if someone claimed to be a therapist but didn’t have proof of a license. (You can look up any licensed provider on your states health department website and get accurate information about the standing of their license.) What might be less obvious are people who market themselves as coaches. While coaching is a valid and helpful service, coaches are not licensed providers unless they specifically have a healthcare license pertaining to mental health. Coaching is great for setting goals and keeping someone accountable to their goals. They can provide some general education around topics more broadly but should not be offering psychoeducation or mental health education. Coaching is never a substitute for professional mental healthcare. No matter how much experience someone claims to have, if they aren’t a licensed mental health provider, as detailed above; they simply are not a mental health expert of any kind and should not be trusted with your mental health concerns.
Some coaching services I have seen that I would be very cautious of engaging are as follows:
Trauma Coach
Mindset Coach
Nervous System Coach
Fertility Coach
Somatic Coach or Bodyworker
As mentioned, broad education could be provided through these services but I would be very hesitant to cross over into issues pertaining to anxiety, depression, trauma, family of origin, physical pain that has emotional roots, or any mental health diagnosis. What’s tricky is that these services are hard to offer without overlapping with mental health, which is why it is risky to engage them with an unlicensed, non-expert provider. I have seen so much harm done here with so many people and you don’t want to need legitimate mental health therapy, simply to address the harm caused in trying to heal with non-professional providers.
In Summary
If you are looking for someone to walk alongside you as you navigate your past, present, or future, please be sure to do your research about their credentials. No question is too small when interviewing potential providers. There’s a lot of benefit that can come from both therapy and coaching, they are simply different services and should be identified as such. Please feel free to reach out via the contact form below if you have questions. I’d be happy to be a resource.
With care,
Rachael
