Types of Chapel Hill Therapists

All Chapel Hill therapists or psychotherapists undergo clinical training during their graduate program. Each graduate program specializes in a different modality. Post-graduation, a limited licensed clinician will also train under a licensed supervisor who has a specialty area.

There are many post graduate certification programs in which psychotherapists will further train to develop specialties. Psychotherapists will gain expertise of working with different populations through their graduate program, practicum, post-graduate experience and through their various employment experiences.

For example, a psychotherapist could specialize in working with couples, children, adults or areas such as addiction, eating disorders, grief & loss, and trauma.

Here are a few things to consider when choosing a psychotherapist:

1. Ask about their scope of practice. Make sure that what you are seeking treatment for is something with which they have a history of working. You can ask about their success in treating certain conditions. For example, if you are needing treatment for an eating disorder, you would want to make sure your therapist specializes in working with this population.

2. Find a modality that works for you! A Modality is a type of therapeutic process that the psychotherapist is trained in or has received a certification in. It can be overwhelming to figure out what a modality is or what kind would work for you. HERE is a link that describes the many different therapeutic modalities that therapists in mental health can be trained in.

3. Look for a personality that is a good fit. For example, if you like someone who is honest, direct, gives feedback, then make sure you ask for that when interviewing therapists.

How to Choose Chapel Hill Therapists?

Choosing a psychotherapist should take some time. It is important to find a good fit! It is perfectly acceptable to try a few different Chapel Hill therapists out to see who might be a good fit for you. A relationship with a psychotherapist is personal and might be long term, so make sure it is someone who makes you feel safe and comfortable. Some therapists do brief over-the-phone or in-person free sessions for you to be able to meet them to see if they are a good fit. The relationship starts as soon as you reach out for help and it’s okay to ask for what you need up front!

What Kind of Treatment Plan is Best for Me?

We have found that patients navigating treatment on their own can take a lot of time and consume a lot of money. The process for getting help can be overwhelming. NCCR has developed a Lifestyle & Treatment Consultation service that can cut to the chase. Our goal is to offer assistance in the process of figuring out best fit and program for your mental and physical health care needs.

The cost is $200/hour with the shortest consultation being 2 hours. We offer a few different package options that could fit your needs.

If you are needing us to travel to your home or office, we are willing to do that. Depending on where you are needing help and support in your life, we can be very flexible with the assessment. The Lifestyle & Treatment Consultation can be as short as 2 hours or as much as a week long intensive assessment of family or lifestyle dynamics. Due to the nature of this evaluation, we need ultimate flexibility to travel and assess which means this service is not covered by insurance companies.

This service is *ONLY OFFERED BY seasoned therapists at NCCR.

Consider investing in yourself! If you have been in treatment for a long time and are needing to switch gears, just starting the therapeutic process but needing to “cut to the chase,” if you want a professional opinion on your mental/physical health treatment plan, you should consider investing in a Lifestyle & Treatment plan. You will leave the evaluation with recommendations for how best to move forward in your treatment and life! Read here for more information: Clinical Service Fees

Here is a list of types of Chapel Hill therapists and a short description of the types of mental health counseling they provide.

Psychotherapists

A psychotherapist is a provider that treats mental health conditions through the use of counseling approaches rather than medical interventions. A psychotherapist holds either a Master’s or Doctorate degree in the field of counseling, social work, or clinical psychology. After a graduate program, a psychotherapist becomes licensed with a limited license. They typically need to practice for 2-3 years under a supervisor’s license. Each State has different licensure laws and requirements. After a period of limited licensed supervision, a psychotherapist is able to apply and obtain full licensure in the State that they practice in and can practice mental health counseling independently or part of a group practice, hospital, private or non profit organization.

LPCA (Licensed Professional Counselor Associate)

Restricted license
Requires supervised professional practice
License number starts with “A”
The LPCA license is a pre-requisite for LPC license for new graduates and/or new counseling professionals.
This is a restricted license.
CANNOT work unless an approved supervision contract is on file with the Board Office.
Most hold a graduate degree in Counseling or related field

LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor)

Persons in the counseling profession that have completed 3,000 hours of supervised professional practice
Unrestricted, independent license
License number does not start with a letter
License for persons with supervised professional counseling experience.
This is an independent licensure (non-restricted).
Same license number with no letter at the beginning. Example: 0000.

LPCS (Licensed Professional Counseling Supervisors)

At least 5 years full-time licensed professional counseling experience with 2,500 direct client contact hours
At least 8 years part-time licensed professional counseling experience with 2,500 direct client contact hours
Not less than 5 years but no more than 8 years combined of full/part-time licensed professional counseling experience with 2,500 direct client contact hours
Unrestricted, independent license
Approved to provide clinical supervision
License number starts with “S”

LCSWA (Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate)

For social workers who have not satisfied the experience requirements for LCSW licensure. [For more information, refer to the LCSW ASSOCIATE LICENSE tab.]
EDUCATION: MSW, DSW, or PhD in social work from a CSWE accredited school.
LCSWA licensees must pass the ASWB Clinical level exam within their initial licensure period to be eligible for renewal if additional time is required to satisfy the 2 years/3000 hours of supervised clinical experience needed for LCSW licensure.
EXPERIENCE: While no experience is required to receive this license, associate licensees must document their supervision and practice to the Board every 6 months as required by regulation. Acceptable experience must be post MSW paid clinical employment.

LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) – [MANDATORY for clinical practice]

EDUCATION: MSW, DSW or PhD in social work from CSWE accredited school.
EXAMINATION: ASWB Clinical level exam.
EXPERIENCE: Minimum of 3,000 hours of post MSW paid clinical employment appropriately supervised clinical practice) accumulated in no less than two (2) years, nor more than six (6) years.
SUPERVISION: Minimum of 100 hours of supervision from a LCSW, MSW with an additional 2 years post LCSW clinical social work practice, on a regular basis: at least one (1) hour of supervision for every thirty (30) hours of clinical practice. A maximum of twenty-five (25) hours may be group supervision.

Child Therapist

A child therapist is someone who specializes in working with children. “Children” is a broad category so it would be important to identify the age range that a psychotherapist can work with. Not every psychotherapist see’s children or knows the unique ways to provide psychotherapy to teens or child populations. Child therapists have additional training in child development. It would be highly likely that a child therapist specializes in a modality that uses nonverbal communication as a means for expression. If a child is too young to use talk therapy, then they may use another modality such as art therapy, creative expression, play therapy, somatic psychotherapy or something of this nature. There is even a small subset of psychotherapists that specialize in prenatal and perinatal psychology and can assist in the early primitive reflexes of the infant as well as the attachment with parents and nervous system regulation.

A therapist who works with teenagers might offer a variety of therapies including individual, group or family therapy. After an initial assessment, a therapist will recommend one of these forms of treatment. Issues that a teen might be seen for in therapy include: stress, grief/loss, sexual assault, substance abuse, witnessing or being a part of any type of violence, academic performance, relationship issues with family or friends, cultural or systemic trauma, gender and sexual identity issues.

Group therapy would be indicated for teens who are needing to work on interpersonal skills with peers or are needing peer support so that they do not feel alone with what they are struggling with.
Family therapy would be indicated so as to integrate the teens growth in therapy, to help facilitate healthy and developmentally appropriate relationship dynamics or to develop new relational patterns.
Individual therapy would be indicated should the teen need to confide personal information about the stress they are under or trauma they recently experienced. Often, family relationships come with conditions and emotions and it can be helpful to have an outside adult professional resource for teens to explore powerful feelings, sensations or struggles without the fear of losing or offending a current relationship in their life.

Somatic Therapist

Chapel Hill therapists who offer body-centered psychotherapy are called by the broad term somatic therapists. This technique utilizes the connection between the body and the mind. Somatic psychotherapists are often trained to work with both mental health as well as physical health conditions. Somatic psychotherapists believe in the body’s innate ability to heal and express itself. Somatic psychotherapists can be classified in 3 categories:

Somatically Aware
Somatically Oriented
Somatically Integrated
Somatically aware therapists are knowledgeable that there is a body attached to the head! Believe it or not, some therapies are not aware that the head and the body are an integrated system that is inseparable and in constant communication.
Somatically oriented therapists will reference the body and its movements or sensations during a session. The therapist might bring a client’s awareness to the breath or change in body patterns during a session. Body oriented psychotherapists might use art or creative expression such as music or dance as a way to bring someone into their experience. Mindfulness practices are practiced by somatically oriented therapists and can additionally increase someone’s awareness of how they are in relationship to themselves or others.
Somatically integrated therapists are aware of how to shift a body or nervous system pattern through a series of techniques that can intervene in trauma or survival strategies of the body. Examples of somatically integrated therapies include but are not limited to: Somatic Experiencing ™, Sensory Motor Psychotherapy, Hakomi, EMDR, Neuro Affective Relational Model, & touchwork for trauma (which addresses organs, adrenals, brain stem activation, and attachment).

More information can be found on the NC Board of Licensed Professional Counseling Board’s and NC Social Work Licensure Board websites.

Chapel Hill Therapists: Who Are the Best?

NC Center for Resiliency, PLLC is founded by 2 Chapel Hill therapists, a husband and wife team. Dr. Patrick Jeffs, LPC, SEP & Kimbery Jeffs, LPCS, SEP. With approximately 30 combined years of clinical experience, they wanted to offer the community and employee-based group somatic psychotherapy practice. When they first moved to Chapel Hill in 2006, they found that somatic psychotherapy was relatively new to this area of NC. They were in their own private practices and found that it was lonely, isolating and did not have many other therapists to refer to in the community that focused in this somatic modality. In 2015 they combined their practices and started NCCR. NCCR is special in that it is an employee-based practice. This means that the owners are invested in the approach and the staff, and can offer professional collaboration on cases both in-house with co-treating therapists and also with providers in the community.

The team is supervised by a faculty wisdom team who each have over 20 years of clinical experience in the somatic modality. Education is a core value of the company. The NCCR clinical team additionally attend a weekly training meeting and peer consultation group each week providing infrastructure and support for the therapist so that they can best help their clients.

You will not find another group practice like this! NCCR pulls from a variety of different business and training models. We are being looked at as a business model nationally. As social activists we are looking to change the mental health paradigm and provide a community centered facility and programs that are approachable and integrative.

Chapel Hill Therapists: Where Can You Find Them?

Psychotherapists can be found in many ways. Each geographical area has different popular ways to search for a local mental health clinician. In Chapel Hill, NC area some of the best ways to search for a therapist are via google search (for example: psychotherapist near me), psychology today or via another healthcare provider. Often your physician, psychiatrist, naturopathic doctor, nutritionist or even personal trainer might have a recommendation for you for a local mental health provider. Many psychotherapists rely on word of mouth recommendations, so feel free to ask your friends or your local neighborhood listservs or mother’s clubs what local resources might be a good fit for you. Additionally, our local Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce is an amazing resource for our community for many healthcare, business and relocation needs.

At NCCR, we employ professionals with the license of Licensed Professional Counselor (LPCA, LPC, LPCS) or Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSWA, LCSW, LCSW Supervisor). We are the leading provider of somatic therapy in the Triangle and have helped to increase the popularity of this treatment. For any inquiries or information, please contact us at 919-323-2071.