What is psychology, and who are psychologists?
Psychology is the study of human behavior and mental states. Professionals specializing in this field are known as psychologists. They use psychological evaluations to analyze the biological, cognitive, and social bases of how individuals think, behave, and feel. When people hear the word psychologist, they often think of talk therapy or psychotherapy. However, the profession includes several other specialty areas.
Psychology could include areas such as organizational behavior and animal research. The term psychologist can be applied to people who use their research and psychological knowledge to solve problems, such as treating mental illness, and those who work as social scientists and mainly perform research or educate in colleges and universities.
What do psychologists do?
Psychologists' primary focus is evaluating and understanding patients' thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. They accomplish this by:
- Identifying emotional and behavioral patterns
- Making referrals
- Diagnosing conditions or disorders
- Coming up with suitable treatment plans
They treat mental health issues through psychotherapy or counseling, also known as talk therapy. Psychologists, unlike psychiatrists, are not medical doctors, so they cannot perform medical procedures or write prescriptions in some states.
Psychologists fall into five categories, classifying them into different types.
- Health psychologists
- Counseling psychologists
- Clinical psychologists
- Forensic psychologists
- Neuropsychologist
Reasons to consult a clinical psychologist near you
There could be many reasons to consult a psychologist. If you think you need help dealing with your psychological problems, trust your instinct. Many people assume their issues must be severe to seek help, which is a misconception.
Although you can visit a psychologist for multiple concerns, the following are some signs of mental health issues for which you should seek the expertise of a psychologist:
- You need an unbiased and caring person to help sort through your emotions.
- Your behavior, thoughts, and feelings negatively impact or hinder your work, relationships, and overall well-being.
- You feel helpless to such an extent that life no longer seems worth living.
- You're struggling with life challenges.
- Your use of drugs or alcohol is interfering with your responsibilities, relationships, emotions, and behavior.
- You need help with concentrating and fulfilling day-to-day obligations.
- You have trouble sleeping.
While seeking help for behavioral concerns and mental health may seem overwhelming and challenging, you must do so. Mental health issues are common, and your mental well-being is equally vital as your physical health.
What disorders and conditions do psychologists treat?
Psychologists actively address a wide range of mental health conditions through therapy. You should seek out a psychologist to manage the following conditions:
- Alcohol, drugs, or gaming addiction: Individuals afflicted by alcohol use disorder often engage in excessive alcohol consumption and find it challenging to stop, even when it results in personal, emotional, or physical harm to themselves or others.
- Personality disorders: People with personality disorders endure persistent, pervasive, disruptive patterns of thinking, behavior, mood, and interactions with others, causing significant distress and hindering their ability to function effectively.
- Autism spectrum: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), once known as autism, represents a neurodevelopmental condition marked by difficulties in social interactions and hurdles in comprehending and utilizing verbal and nonverbal communication.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): It is a mental health condition that may arise after experiencing a traumatic event that provokes negative and anxious emotions.
- Alzheimer's disease: Alzheimer's disease progressively impairs an individual's memory, cognitive functions, learning, and organizational skills, ultimately diminishing their ability to perform daily tasks, making it the leading cause of dementia.
- Postpartum depression: Postpartum depression, occurring after childbirth, affects up to 15% of individuals and manifests as emotional fluctuations, frequent crying, fatigue, guilt, anxiety, and difficulties caring for the newborn.
- Bipolar disorders: Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic-depressive illness, is a lifelong mood disorder that leads to significant mood swings, alterations in energy levels, changes in thinking patterns, and shifts in behavior, often persisting for varying durations and disrupting daily activities.
- Schizoaffective disorder: Schizoaffective disorder causes affected individuals to experience depression, mania, and psychosis by combining symptoms of schizophrenia and a mood disorder.
- Dissociative disorders: Dissociative disorders involve feelings of detachment from reality, disconnection from one's body, or memory loss (amnesia), classifying them as mental health conditions.
- Sleep disorders: Sleep disorders affect the quality, quantity, and timing of nighttime sleep, impacting mental and physical health. Examples include insomnia, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea.
- Mood disorders: Mood disorders primarily influence an individual's emotional state, resulting in enduring and intense sadness, happiness, or anger.
- Panic disorders: Panic attacks trigger sudden, temporary fear and strong physical responses in response to ordinary, non-threatening situations.
- Hoarding disorders: Hoarding disorders is a mental health condition in which individuals feel a strong compulsion to accumulate many items, regardless of their monetary value, and experience significant distress when attempting to dispose of them, interfering with their daily lives.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD): Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involves frequent, unwanted thoughts that drive individuals to engage in repetitive behaviors.
Different types of psychological treatments
Psychologists employ evidence-based treatments to address mental health concerns, develop effective coping strategies, and enhance quality of life. Psychotherapy is their most prevalent form of treatment, tailored to individual needs based on specific mental health disorders and psychological issues. Some of these forms of therapies include the following:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT focuses on how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are interconnected. Psychologists use it to help individuals recognize and challenge negative thinking patterns to improve mental well-being. This approach is effective in treating ailments like anxiety and depression by identifying the root of harmful thoughts. Psychologists guide individuals to critically assess their thoughts by comparing evidence for both negative and positive perspectives, fostering a more balanced and realistic viewpoint.
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): Psychologists use DBT to help people control their emotions and harmful behaviors. They allow you to adopt different habits to prevent and suppress issues like anger and personality disorders.
- Interpersonal therapy: Interpersonal therapy often helps in treating depression. Psychologists use it to discuss your mood and emotions and how it affects your relationships with others. They work with you to find the underlying problems and help you work through them.
- Humanistic therapy: Psychologists use humanistic therapy to help people understand their worldviews. They work with you to understand yourself, process compliments and criticisms, and accept your true self. The treatment works on how perspectives affect an individual's day-to-day choices and finds methods to achieve one's goals.
- Psychodynamic therapy: Psychodynamic therapy helps to identify your inner struggles, mental defenses, and behavior patterns. It involves self-examination and self-awareness to help individuals identify the root causes of problematic relationships and emotional suffering. Psychologists use it to help individuals gain a positive and practical sense of self.
What can you expect during your visit to a clinical psychologist near you?
Professionals have unique ways of interacting with patients and addressing their mental health concerns. Generally, you can expect a psychologist to:
Ask questions: On your first visit, your psychologist will ask you general questions to get to know you better. These questions may include concerns about your visit, personal history, drug or substance abuse, problems you face, and factors that trigger them. Answering these questions will help your psychologist gather more information about you to create a treatment plan, which could also take more than one session.
Take tests: The psychologist may also ask you to take one or more psychological tests. These tests may assess your characteristics, moods, memory, and concentration. They help the doctor analyze the problem and reach a diagnosis.
Talk about treatment: Once your psychologist has diagnosed the problem, they will work with you to determine the therapy plan. All forms of treatment used by psychologists are research-based and proven effective. Some common types of therapy include interpersonal, cognitive-behavioral, and systems therapy.
How are psychologists different from counselors?
Psychologists and counselors undergo different educational training. Counselors (often called therapists) have master's degrees in mental health-related fields such as counseling psychology, clinical psychology, or marriage and family therapy. On the other hand, a psychologist has a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or PsyD) with extensive training in psychological research and clinical practice.
Counselors are focused on general therapy and are qualified to evaluate a person's mental health. They use therapeutic techniques like talk therapy. Psychologists concentrate more on evaluations within their field and providing interventions to patients with specific disorders through diagnostic examinations, consultation with healthcare professionals, and research.
How do you prepare for talk therapy?
Feeling apprehensive, skeptical, fearful, or nervous about seeing a mental healthcare provider for the first time is normal. However, knowing what to expect during your first psychotherapy session with a psychologist or counselor and going prepared with questions or topics to discuss can help you feel more informed and at ease.
The first psychotherapy session typically serves as an opportunity for you and your provider to become acquainted. This session will also help you determine whether the partnership will fit. Some therapists may also offer a free introductory phone session, as finding the right fit is often a trial-and-error process.
Depending on your therapist's approach, the session may start with a structured interview or a more casual conversation. You will be asked questions about your symptoms (if any), your medical history, your reasons for seeking therapy, what you plan to accomplish in therapy, your home and work environment, any family history of mental health issues, and details about your childhood and relationships with family, friends, and partners.
Before you begin your appointment, you may have to complete some paperwork regarding your insurance, HIPAA forms, record release forms, therapist-patient services agreements, a questionnaire of your symptoms, medical history, and current medications.
If you are confused about what to talk about in therapy, here are some topics you can discuss, either during the first appointment or for future visits:
- Discuss your goals with your therapist. Help your therapist understand what you want to change in your life or yourself. Stating your personal goals and outlining your desired outcomes for therapy will help your therapist design a treatment plan aligned with those preferences.
- Discuss interpersonal challenges, including friendships, relationships, family dynamics, and workplace interactions. Your therapist can help you develop listening and communication skills, set boundaries, and show you how you can practice empathy to navigate such challenges.
- Previous experiences in childhood or adulthood can shape your emotional well-being, beliefs, expectations, attachments, and values. Exploring these experiences and unresolved traumatic experiences is crucial as they may be challenging to let go of or compartmentalize. Discussing them with your therapist will help you understand how they are connected to your present challenges. Even experiences that you feel were minor issues can impact your current behavior.
- Talk about ways you can regulate your emotions. Some situations may trigger an emotional response and manifest physically. Your psychotherapist may help you identify such situations and underlying issues and create an action plan to help you respond more productively and healthily. They may also recommend techniques like breathing, relaxation, and mindfulness exercises.
- Talk about your current feelings, patterns, and behaviors. You may write your thoughts down in a journal, especially if you tend to forget or are shy. For example, if there are certain situations where you feel insecure or embarrassed or if you have been feeling angry and depressed lately.
- You can also discuss challenges like new life challenges like childbirth, marriage, issues at work or school, moving to another state or country, and grieving the loss of a loved one.
Find the best clinical psychologists near you in Smyrna, GA
People can have different preferences regarding consulting experts for their mental health. You may consider several factors before making an appointment. Whatever your needs, Zocdoc is a platform that can help you choose the best psychologist in Smyrna, Georgia.
To begin with, register on the website for free and enter details such as your required specialty, condition, and preferred location. You will see a list of health practitioners who offer services in your area. You can also use the search filters on Zocdoc to find psychologists within your insurance network. You can upload your insurance card if you do not see your specific insurance plan listed on Zocdocc, and the platform will scan the image of your card and show you your likely plan. Note that this service is available only for medical insurance cards. Dental and vision are excluded. If you need assistance uploading your medical insurance card or any other query, you may contact Zocdoc's service team, which is available 365 days a year via chat or email. If you have other insurance-related questions, check out Zocdoc's patient help center.
Zocdoc enables you to filter these results based on your preferred language, visit type, time of day, etc. You also have access to the unique profile pages of doctors, where you can learn more about their education, certifications, accreditations, licenses, and more.
The best part? All appointments made through Zocdoc are accessible, secure, and 100% free.
Mental illness statistics in Georgia and the United States
As per the 2021 data from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), about 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental health illness yearly. More than half of Americans reported negative impacts on their mental health due to COVID-19. Around 1 in 20 adults in the United States experience serious mental illness, and about 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6–17 years experience mental health disorders yearly.
The same reports also suggest that, in Georgia, nearly 1,405,000 adults have a mental health condition. These figures are alarming since the number is more than twice the population of Atlanta.
In February 2021, approximately 44.3% of Georgian adults exhibited symptoms of anxiety or depression, and roughly 29.4% of adults faced challenges in obtaining the necessary therapy or counseling services. Approximately 336,000 adults in Georgia have serious mental health issues, and about 104,000 Georgians aged 12-17 have depression.
An inadequate mental health system can adversely affect individuals, families, and communities. The figures show that people in Georgia and the United States struggle to get the mental health help they need. According to 2023 reports by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 340 psychologists were actively providing services in Georgia. Mental health statistics offer a ground for improvement for the state, as about 4,911,327 Georgians live in communities that do not have sufficient mental health professionals.
Sources
WebMD
Cleveland Clinic[1]
Pepperdine University
American Psychological Association
National Alliance on Mental Illness
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Saybrook University
Cleveland Clinic[2]
Verywell Mind[1]
Verywell Mind[2]
Verywell Mind[3]
GoodTherapy
Psychology Today
Healthline
