The titles in this profession are genuinely confusing, and nobody explains them to you before you go looking for help. Counsellor, psychotherapist, psychologist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist. They are not interchangeable, they are not ranked in a simple line from worst to best, and the differences matter for two practical reasons: training, and money.

Who can call themselves what

In Australia, “psychologist” is a protected title. You cannot use it unless you are registered with the Psychology Board of Australia through AHPRA, which means a minimum of six years of accredited training and supervised practice, and ongoing professional development every year to stay registered.

“Counsellor” and “psychotherapist” are not protected in the same way. There are excellent counsellors doing careful, skilled work, and many belong to professional associations with real standards. But the title itself does not guarantee a particular training pathway, because no law requires one.

“Psychiatrist” means a medical doctor who has specialised in mental health. Psychiatrists can prescribe medication. Psychologists cannot.

What clinical endorsement adds

Clinical psychology is an area of practice endorsement. It means additional postgraduate training, in my case a Master of Clinical Psychology, plus a registrar programme of supervised practice after that, specifically focused on assessing and treating mental health conditions.

The practical difference is depth in complexity. A clinical endorsement is not a claim to care more or listen better. It reflects training weighted towards diagnosis, formulation and structured treatment of conditions like eating disorders, personality disorders, and trauma, where the presentation is often tangled and the treatment needs a plan rather than a general approach.

The money part

This is where it becomes concrete. Medicare pays a higher rebate for a session with a clinical psychologist than for a general registered psychologist. The clinical rebate is currently $141.85.

That does not automatically make a clinical psychologist the right choice. A general psychologist you click with, who has real experience in exactly your issue, will very often be a better match than a clinical psychologist who does not. Fit does more work than credentials do. But if you are comparing costs, know that you are not comparing like with like, and the fees and rebates reflect that.

How to actually choose

Credentials tell you the floor, not the ceiling. Once you know someone is registered and appropriately trained, the questions worth asking are narrower and more useful.

Ask what they work with most. Everyone lists everything on a website; most people have two or three areas they genuinely live in. Ask what approach they use and whether it suits what you are dealing with. Ask, plainly, how many people with your particular difficulty they see in a usual month.

And notice how the first contact feels. If someone is vague about cost, or evasive about what treatment will involve, that tells you something.

Where I sit

I hold full general registration with AHPRA and the Psychology Board of Australia, I am a full member of the Australian Psychological Society, and I am a board-approved supervisor. I have worked in public mental health and in private practice since 2012. My training beyond the degree is in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Schema Therapy and evidence-based eating disorder treatment.

You can read more about my background, or look through the areas I work in to see whether what you are dealing with is something I see often.

If you are not sure, ask me. I would rather point you to someone better suited than take on work outside what I do well.