What do the letters mean?
Making the decision to get help with the stress in our lives is not only a big step, but also the first step in figuring it all out. Where do I go? Who do I call? What does a therapist do? What do all the letters MD LMFT LCSW LCPC CADC mean?

Many therapists choose their career because they want to help people. They teach needed skills and give people the tools to manage issues and problems in the future on their own. They are specially trained to treat a range of issues and disorders.

Psychiatrists are licensed medical doctors (MD) certified to treat emotional and mental disorders. Psychiatrists perform assessments and diagnosis of mental health disorders. Their primary method of treatment involves prescribing and adjusting psychotropic medications to address chemical imbalances in the brain. This may include various forms of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. A career in psychiatry entails four years of undergraduate school, four years of medical school and four years of residency training.

Licensed Psychologist (Licensed Psychologist or Licensed Clinical Psychologist) holds a Ph.D. or Psy.D. in Psychology, have completed a two-year supervised internship and must pass a licensing exam. They are trained to work with individuals and their intrapersonal issues.

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT) have a Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, 2000 hours of supervised work experience and have passed a professional licensing exam. Licensed therapists in other fields may obtain an LMFT by completing specific academic and training requirements. LMFT’s are trained in Family Systems Theory and work specifically with relationships.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) have a Master’s degree in Social Work, work experience in social and human services and has passed a professional licensing exam. Clinical work includes providing services and assisting clients with resources and confronting issues that adversely affect their lives.

Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors (LCPC) have a Master’s degree in counseling, supervised work experience for two years as a clinical professional counselor and have passed a professional licensing exam. Professional counseling experience includes working with various populations (children, young adults, adults, seniors) around mental health issues and/or deficits in their social, academic, relational, legal, financial, medical functioning.

Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors (CADC) are trained to work with people with addictions. CADC counselors can become certified with only a undergraduate degree or may hold a mental health license in addition to the CADC. To earn a CADC, the person must undergo three phases of training and supervision related to treating addictions. At each level, the person must past a exam to test their mastering of the knowledge presented.

Generally, after becoming licensed, psychiatrists and therapists may choose to receive additional training or certification in a subspecialty. Examples of subspecialties include geriatric psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine, addictions, trauma, children & adolescent treatment and forensic, to name a few.

Love and Respect
Men and women experience love differently with women seeing love as connection while men experience love as respect. Unfortunately, most people show love the way they experience love rather than what their partner views as love. As a result, many couples experience a “negative cycle” where a woman feels unloved in an interaction and responds by being disrespectful to the man. The man responds by pulling away and breaking the connection to the woman which causes the woman to feel more unloved and thus the cycle is created. A study conducted by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs in the book Love and Respect asked 7,000 respondents “When you are in a conflict with your spouse or significant other, do you feel unloved or treated disrespectfully?” 83% of the men said they felt treated disrespectfully while 72% of the women felt unloved or disconnected.

Couples can reverse the negative cycle and create an “energizing cycle” wherein the woman feels more loved and thus acts more respectfully towards her partner. The more respected the husband feels, the more connections and lovingly he behaves. This cycle is particularly apparent in the differences between desires for sex in couples. Men have sex to feel connected to their partners, while women want to feel connected. This can lead to a disconnect between partners and a power struggle around the meaning of sex, connection and respect in the relationship.

In his books, Dr. Eggerichs offers the acronym COUPLE to help men remember how women experience love:
C- Closeness
O- Openness
U- Understanding
P- Peacemaking
L- Loyalty
E- Esteem

The acronym CHAIRS is used to help women remember how men experience love:
C- Conquest
H- Hierarchy
A- Authority
I- Insight
R- Relationship
S- Sexuality

By understanding and respecting these differences, men and women can create more connected, loving relationships.