There are several different types of mental health care professionals you may work with on your wellness journey. It can be confusing to navigate: Do you need to talk to a psychiatrist or a psychologist? Are they the same thing? What if no psychiatrists near you are accepting new clients? How many different appointments will you need to make? 

Therapists and psychiatrists are all licensed to provide specific types of treatment. The biggest difference is that psychiatrists are medical doctors. This means they can prescribe medication, make a diagnosis or recommend treatments that will be most effective for you. Therapists in California may be certified as Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCCs) or a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

Your choice of a new health care provider may depend on your symptoms, mental health goals, treatment preferences and location. If you’re open to starting with therapy alone, a psychotherapist or psychologist may be the best option. However, if you think you may need a prescription or a specific diagnosis, you’ll want to see a psychiatrist. 

Since these types of specialists can have long waiting lists, it’s a good idea to look for psychiatrists near you who are accepting new clients. We have great psychiatrists on our staff at Lightfully, and our admissions counselors can discuss treatment programs with you.

Conditions our psychiatrists can help with

We treat clients with many of the most common personality, mood and trauma-related disorders at Lightfully. The most common treatments for these conditions are therapy, medication or a combination of both. Combining therapy and medication together produces significantly better outcomes. But your decision to try medication depends on a lot of factors that are unique to you, so this is something you and a psychiatrist should decide together. 

Fully credentialed staff psychiatrists provide medication management sessions to Lightfully clients as needed. Our programs offer a safe place to try psychiatric medications because you’re working with clinicians for several hours a day. We’ll monitor how your treatments are affecting you and make adjustments until we find the best dosage. 

Here’s the full list of all the conditions we treat at Lightfully:

Trauma-related disorders

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Personality disorders

• Borderline personality disorder
• Narcissistic personality disorder
• Avoidant personality disorder
• Histrionic personality disorder

Mood disorders

• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Panic disorders
• Major depressive disorder
• Bipolar disorder, type 1 and 2
• Complicated grief

Other symptoms

• Suicidality
• Self-harm behaviors

How we approach primary mental health at Lightfully

Our clinicians see each Lightfully client as the whole, unique person they are. Your symptoms and diagnosis are important clues about core human processes, but the big picture is about creating a life worth living. We use a process-based therapy model to design personalized, holistic mental health treatment plans for everyone we work with. 

We’re focused on making quality primary mental health care more accessible in California. We’ve opened up several Lightfully locations, so it’s easy to find a care team with a psychiatrist near you who’s accepting new clients. 

Each one of the four levels of care that we offer includes several different treatment options, so you may see a few of our therapists and a staff psychiatrist. 

• Residential Treatment Center (RTC) — Receive 24-hour care in a home-based setting. You’ll get three one-on-one therapy appointments each week along with several group therapy sessions, opportunities for yoga and movement, and medication management as needed.
• Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) — Stay in the comfort of your own home and receive six to seven hours of structured, supportive programming five days a week. 
• Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) — Our partial day program includes both group and individual therapy for three to six hours per day.
• Virtual Intensive Outpatient Program (vIOP) — Get the same level of treatment as our in-person IOP from anywhere in California or Colorado.

Lightfully psychiatrists near you are accepting new clients 

Mental health professionals at many of our locations are ready to work with new clients. If you live in California, there may be a Lightfully psychiatrist accepting new clients near you. 

We prioritize evidence-based, clearly defined, data-driven and whole-person-centered care across all our programs. See what we’re offering in the Bay Area, Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles and San Diego. 

 

Change is possible. When you’re ready to take the first step, reach out to our Admissions Concierge Team. We’ll take the next steps together, toward the fullest, brightest version of you.