There are several professions in addition to Licensed Counselors that provide counseling/psychotherapy services in Missouri, Four such professions would be Marriage and Family Therapists, Social Workers, Psychiatrists, and Psychologists.
As their name indicates, Marriage and Family Therapists specialize in working with couples and family groups. Their work is based on Family Systems theory, and their license (LMFT) requires a Master’s degree from an accredited university, plus at least 3000 hours of supervised practice over at least a 2-year period, and successful completion of the MFT licensure examination.
Licensed Social Workers, especially those licensed as Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), also provide counseling/psychotherapy services in Missouri. For a fuller discussion of that profession, please follow the link, www.bls.gov/oco/ocos060.htm#nature.
Psychiatrists are licensed physicians. Depending upon whether their preparatory background was Allopathic or Osteopathic in emphasis, they earn either a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree or a Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) degree.
After completing their general medical school training, they do a residency in Psychiatry. Managed care third party reimbursement plans have often relegated Psychiatrists to primarily a prescribing medications role (although a few still do limited therapy work).
Psychologists, much like Counselors, provide therapeutic and assessment oriented interventions. Similarly too, they attend graduate school and earn Masters and Doctoral Degrees. However, most states require completion of the Doctorate to practice Psychology without supervision.
There are some differences in scope of practice between Psychologists and Counselors and “turf issues” between the two professions remain unresolved in many states. And yet, there is also considerable cooperation among individuals in both fields.
