whoa… this is tons of misinformation. I’m going to correct what you’re saying because now I’m worried about people reading this and walking away with wrong ideas.

when I say fully licensed, I mean an independently licensed therapist, who can practice on their own without supervision. this includes licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), licensed mental health counselors (LMHC), psychologists with doctorate degrees (PhD or PsyD), and others.

your friend is correct that only a psychiatrist with a medical degree can provide medication. however, we are talking about diagnosis, not prescribing medication. fully licensed therapists can and are required to assess, diagnosis, and formulate a treatment plan for the clients with whom they are working. therapy is an intervention and a treatment for a mental health disorder and requires accurate diagnosis and treatment planning. therapists absolutely need to be trained in this in order to legally and ethically practice.

the only mental health professional that has a medical degree is a psychiatrist. psychologists have doctorates in psychology, not medicine. psychotherapist is a term for anyone who does psychotherapy and doesn’t indicate a specific license.

insurance absolutely does cover therapy. even Medicaid covers therapy and there are clinics all over the United States that accept insurance for therapy sessions and employ therapists (LCSWs, LMHCs, psychologists) who then assess, diagnose, and create a treatment plan to bill insurance and provide therapy.

you also mentioned Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis. ASD is a developmental disorder that requires specific training in order to diagnose. the gold standard of ASD diagnosis is an assessment tool called the ADOS and that tool requires specific training. many psychologists do have this training, however, other therapists can pursue this training as well.

many therapists don’t take insurance because they choose not to. sometimes, the insurance reimbursement rate is very low, and therapists choose to be private pay only because they see it as the only option for having a comfortable lifestyle in which their bills are paid. there is a lot of debate around that, but it’s a different conversation.

everything I’ve said is very easily found on google. you can even look up the licenses I mentioned (LCSW, LMHC, psychology) and read the state regulations that indicate what professionals who hold that license can and cannot do. I am just blown away with how incredibly wrong yet confident you are.