How do you know if a Therapist is a good therapist? Part 2 Education

To be clear, the education that a therapist has is important, but it doesn’t tell the whole story about the therapist. At minimum, a quality therapist* who is a licensed mental health profession has a master degree from an accredited school in social work, psychology, or counseling.

The Degrees

A therapist who is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) has a Master of Social Work degree accredited by the Council of Social Work Education (ACSW) which ensures national education standards for all Clinical Social Workers. In other words, people with an LCSW, no matter where they went to school in the USA, have had courses in social work, ethics, psychology, diagnosis, treatment, community organization, cultural diversity, and social policy.

A therapist who is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Oklahoma has a master degree in counseling/psychology that can have a variety of names. For example in the Tulsa area, a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling or Master of Science in Counseling are the most common master degrees. You might notice that one is a Master of Arts and one is a Master of Science which have technical differences that do not affect or signify one as higher quality or “better”. The more important difference in these degrees is the area of specialization (often referred to as a track) of the degree. For example: the therapist might have completed a marriage and family counseling track or an addiction counseling or a professional counseling track or a community counseling track. Which track a therapist completed can indicate certain competence, specialization, and approach to therapy.

A therapist who is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) has a master degree in marriage and family therapy or a Master in Counseling with a marriage and family therapy curriculum specialization. A LMFT therapist has specifically trained for marriage and family therapy rather than a focus on individual counseling. A LMFT can see individuals just as LCSW and LPC therapists.

The University

Does it matter which university a therapist graduated from? As long as the university and degree are accredited, not really. I would say it isn’t so much about the university, it’s more about the department. For example, my MSW program included the opportunity to participate in a simulation lab designed like a medical office with real actors presenting real life problems. The Tandy Education Simulation Center at the University of Oklahoma is primarily designed to train medical students, nurses, physician assistants, and other healthcare professionals including social workers. The simulation lab is a great advantage for students and a unique opportunity in the OU graduate social work program. Other departments might have a notable professor or better scholarships that can provide advantages but do not necessarily indicate the quality of education and preparedness of a therapist.

Around Tulsa and Northeastern Oklahoma

In the Tulsa area, most therapists have a master degree from the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Northeastern State University, or other state and private universities in Oklahoma and surrounding states. The most common master degrees in the area are Master of Social Work (MSW), Master of Science in Counseling, Master of Arts in Professional Counseling. Each of these degrees is one of the steps to become a licensed mental health profession as a therapist.

* The words therapist, counselor, and psychotherapist are, most of the time, interchangeable and a matter of preference.