VPS BLOG

Pets are powerful healers to those who have been blessed with the gift of a bond with one. I devoted my memoir, an emotionally torturous account of my early life experiences, to tribute my dogs. To this day I credit them with the most heartfelt gratitude for facilitating my ongoing recovery from complex PTSD. A few weeks ago I was nearly devastated when I was forced to say goodbye to, Airin, my last “Barking Buoy.” The circumstances surrounding her death have convinced me a divine intervention happened. After Airin turned 13 in April 2023, I knew her abbreviated life was approaching its end. She was the only canine companion I had left of the nine about whom I had written in my book. To protect myself from the agony of the anticipated final separation and ending of an era, I began searching for a puggle puppy. Still working on credentialing with insurance companies, I had not yet opened my practice so was living frugally while unemployed. Going price for puggle puppies were between $1,500 and $2,000. The driving distance was even more formidable. I couldn’t find any puppies anywhere in the midwest. They were all on or near the US coasts. I continued searching faithfully daily and posting messages in puggle groups periodically. Finally one Saturday evening when I logged into one of the Facebook groups I had joined, I found a message from a woman in Illinois notifying me that she had one female puggle puppy left from her first liter for whom she was trying to find a home for only $300. We scheduled to Facetime the next morning and, after seeing the tiny brown bundles, I immediately reserved her and arranged to pick her up when she turned eight weeks old 10 days later. Three days later Airin woke up delirious with continual vomiting. Her veterinarian agreed to squeeze her in to examine her at one that afternoon. Her blood tests showed she had diabetes so severe her blood sugar didn’t even register and she had advanced kidney failure. The vet’s prognosis was grim even if she was hospitalized. I made the dreaded decision to put her down. Eight days later I left for Illinois where I picked up Winnie. The timing was so uncanny. I feel blessed to have this baby “Barking Buoy” and want to introduce her to all of you.

Counselor, therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, psychiatric nurse, advance practice nurse……So many different titles! What do they all mean, how are they different, and which one might you need to ask for to get mental health treatment? Let me break it down and explain. The terms counselor and therapist are often used interchangeably. But they often have many different titles after their names, such as MSW, LSW, LCSW, LPC, LMLP, PhD, PsyD and so on. Those titles simply indicate what type of educational program they completed to obtain the professional licensure they hold. The “SW” in a title stands for “Social Work” so any one with that title is a social worker. The “M” means they have a master’s degree in social work and the “L” means that, in addition to a master’s degree, they have also completed the requirements to become “licensed.” The “PC” means they are a “Professional Counselor”. When you see the titles LMLP, PhD, or PsyD they indicate that the person is a psychologist. Again, an “M” in their title means that they have a master’s level education. PhD and PsyD means they have doctorate degrees. To simplify things for practical purposes, the main difference between any type of social worker or counselor and a psychologist is that psychologists are trained and qualified to do psychological testing in addition to counseling/therapy. Psychological testing provides a more comprehensive picture but often is not necessary to be helpful for people looking for general counseling. Another question people often become confused about is who can prescribe medications. Only professionals who have medical education can order prescriptions. In the mental health field you would want the services of either a psychiatrist or an advanced practice nurse. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (MD) with specialized education in mental disorders. An advanced practice nurse will have either the tile of DNP or APRN after their name. A DNP has completed doctorate level education while all other APRNs have master’s level educations. Only APRNs, DNPs, and psychiatrists can prescribe medications in the state of Kansas.