Decoding Therapy: Understanding the different types of therapists and the services they offer

A psychologist has a master's or doctorate degree and is scientifically trained on how our minds and behaviour interact. They can work with you to make sense of mental health and neurological (brain) problems, they offer coping tools and support the processing of underlying trauma.

A clinical psychologist is sometimes viewed as being more highly trained in mental health settings. They may be more prepared to deal with complex mental illness and situations when there is a risk to someone’s safety.

Recommended if you: 

• Have a diagnosed mental health condition 
• Are a scientifically minded person 
• Want to process psychological trauma 
• Are concerned about your own or someone else’s safety. 

Professional memberships:

• NZ - New Zealand Psychologists Board (NZPB)
• AU - Psychology Board of Australia (PBA) via the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). 

People can be confused about the difference between psychologists and psychiatrists, which is fair enough as the names of these professions are very similar. 

 A psychiatrist is a medical doctor, who specialised is mental health. They can diagnose mental health conditions and prescribe medication. Some psychiatrists offer talk therapy too, but most primarily treat with medication and refer to talk therapists.

Counsellors have a broader range of training.

Some counsellors may prefer to work primarily with mild mental health issues. They support effective change through active listening, offering guidance, promoting self-awareness, and providing coping strategies.

Some counsellors have more training and usually hold a master’s degree, which means they can offer many of the same types of therapies as a psychologist.

Reommended if you: 

• Have a mild mental health problem 
• Are going through a life transition, such as a bereavement, a breakup, coping with a physical injury, etc.

Professional memberships: 

• NZ - New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC) or New Zealand Christian Counsellors Association (NZCCA)
• AU - Australian Counselling Association (ACA), Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA), or Christian Counsellors Association of Australia (CCAA). 

A psychotherapist helps you understand who you are, and how to make sense of your experiences and relationships to others. They tend to be more philosophical in the way they think and seek to understand the effect of early trauma and relationships. 

Psychotherapists have a broad range of training with more experienced therapists gaining master’s and doctorate degrees. Qualifications in psychotherapy generally require trainees to do therapy themselves, which is less common in other professions.

Recommended if you: 

• Have a diagnosed mental health condition 
• Are philosophically minded 
• Have a difficult past you want to resolve. 

Professional memberships: 

• NZ – Psychotherapists Board of Aotearoa New Zealand (PBANZ) 
• AU– Current registration with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) 

A social worker can offer counselling to provide emotional support and guidance for personal and social challenges. 

In New Zealand, social workers may offer counselling, but they need to be co-qualified as a Counsellor so would be listed as a “Counsellor” as their profession on Clearhead.

Professional membership 

• AU - Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). 

CBT involves becoming aware of how your thoughts and beliefs relate to your feelings and behaviours, so you can make targeted changes. It also includes a suite of psychological skills, as well as useful approaches for overcoming fears and making steps towards goals.

Particularly useful for: 

• Anxiety disorders, such as generalised anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, and OCD 
• Mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar. 

DBT is a modified type of CBT designed to help people manage intense emotion. It focuses on learning core skills, such as mindfulness, tolerating distress, emotion regulation, and relationships skills.

 Particularly useful for: 

• People who have tried other types of therapies and they haven’t worked 
• Borderline personality disorder 
• Eating disorders 
• Treating self-harm. 

These are approaches to therapy that integrate mindfulness as a core part of the treatment. Mindfulness is a way to intentionally focus your attention on present experience in a non-judgemental way. 

An example is Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which helps you gain some distance from negative thoughts so you can observe and change how you react to them.

Particularly useful for: 

• Anxiety disorders 
• Recurrent depression, especially if you ruminate (i.e., think in circles.) 

This approach to therapy is an emotionally safe and supportive way of responding to people who have experienced trauma. 

It’s about looking at problems from the perspective of what has happened to you and your family, rather than focusing on what's wrong with you. It involves being aware of potential trauma triggers and not going there until you’re ready. 

Particularly useful for: 

• People with anxiety provoking trauma triggers.

ACT involves learning to accept and be present to difficult thoughts and feelings by seeing them as understandable reactions to challenging life events.

It also involves committing to actions that align with your values so you can move toward what matters most in your life.

Particularly useful for: 

• Anxiety and depression 
• Chronic pain 
• Substance use disorders 
• Life transitions, such as grief and loss 
• Stress relating to disabilities. 

EMDR is an increasingly popular type of therapy designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories or disturbing life experiences. It involves focusing on these memories, while engaging in side-to-side eye-movements, and processing what arises in your mind and body.

Particularly useful for: 

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 
• Processing traumatic life experiences 
• If you’ve experienced highly stressful events that are causing ongoing high anxiety. 

In a broad sense, it’s an approach that brings to awareness the psychological forces underlying your behaviour and feelings in connection to your early experiences. It focuses on the relationship between conscious and unconscious motivation. 

Psychodynamic therapy is rooted in psychoanalysis and is often seen as a more modern adaption. Compared to psychoanalysis, it has been described as shorter-term, more interactive, less structured, and involves more of a focus on present experiences. It is often integrated into other types of therapy.

 Particularly useful for: 

• Struggling with finding meaning in life 
• Depression and anxiety 
• Personality disorders 
• Chronic illness. 

This approach to therapy emphasises growth and self-actualisation, rather than curing disorders. It focuses on developing your personal worth and freeing yourself from unhelpful beliefs, so you can live a fuller life.

Particularly useful for: 

• Self-development 
• Low self-esteem 
• Anxiety and depression.