Everyone's a Therapist

Often I find myself in various establishments such as bar, a hair salon, or another business where I find myself engaging in small talk with various people. Eventually I am asked the question “what do you do for a living?”, to which I often reply “I’m a therapist.” I often get this response “So am I” followed by a laugh.

Ok, so I get it. People open up to hair stylists, bartenders, and a multitude of other professionals they seek services from. I admit I may be a little defensive about this topic because I am a therapist, but it bothers me that these professionals in their own right compare themselves to mental health therapists.

Let me make myself clear by stating that I am in no way, shape, or form “bashing” these other professions. They are absolutely necessary. I highly respect those who have skills that I do not possess, such as being able to cut hair or work on a vehicle.

Let me start off by explaining the amount of work that goes into becoming a therapist. Therapists go through extensive training that consists of a 60 hour master’s degree program. This program also entails a 200 hour practicum and a 600 hour internship. Once that is finished, therapists must sit for an extensive licensing exam. Once they pass the exam, the therapist can then apply for their associate license. I compare this to having a drivers permit, where the learning driver must have a licensed driver in the vehicle with them to learn how to drive. An associate license is exactly that, a license granted to the therapist with the condition they will have an approved, appropriately licensed supervisor overseeing them, and with whom they will meet at least once a week. Depending on the state, the therapist must then gather a certain amount of hours to earn their full license. For example, in North Carolina the associate therapist is to earn 3,000 supervised hours. 2000 of these hours must be direct contact hours, meaning working with the clients.  Once the full licensed is earned, the counselor is required to earn a certain amount of continuing education credits in order to maintain their license. The amount of credits varies depending on the state of licensure and the type of license.

Some therapists are dually licensed. This means they are licensed in more than one field of counseling, such as mental health and addictions. Guess what? Both licenses have similar requirements regarding the associate licensing process regarding the examination and the accumulation of counseling hours. In that case the therapist would also meet with their addictions supervisor on a weekly basis to discuss addictions-related cases and anything else addictions related in preparation for earning their full license.

Therapy is more than just having someone open up to you and listening to them. I must admit that is a key component to therapy, because a therapist cannot develop an effective treatment plan without knowing all the facts. This is called building rapport, and it is an ongoing process throughout the therapeutic relationship. While important, it is not the only component to therapy. Therapists not only listen, but while listening they come up with ways in which to help the client learn how to help themselves. We teach the clients coping skills to help them manage or even overcome their problems, and if need be we point them to other professionals or organizations that can provide help that we cannot.

It has been a while since I have looked up the educational and training requirements to become a hairstylist, bartender, or any other profession for that matter (I'm not trying to pick on those professions!!), but I am fairly certain they are not trained or experienced to help people as those in the counseling professions are. So, in my opinion, a hairstylist or any other profession to say they are a therapist can be likened to me cutting my own bangs or coloring my own hair and calling myself a hairstylist. I do not have the training or the expertise to do hair, as other professions don’t have the training or expertise to help someone change their lives.

I’m hoping the reader is able to see where my frustration comes from when this situation arises. I guess what I’m ultimately trying to say is, give credit when credit is due. We all work hard to learn our trades and be the best at what we do.