The public's knowledge about psychologists and other mental health professionals.

A random sample of New London County, CT, residents received a questionnaire about nine mental health professions or professionals (MHPs): clergyperson, marriage and family counselor, nonpsychiatric physician, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse, psychologist, psychotherapist, social worker, and telephone crisis counselor. Respondents defined each MHP and reported their satisfaction with treatment, which MHP they would recommend, their referral source(s), licensure requirements, and fees. A mixed-design analysis of variance was computed, with comfortableness as the dependent variable; age, sex, saw an MHP, and education, the between-subjects variables; and the nine MHPs, the within-subjects variable. A significant MHP effect showed that physicians were perceived as slightly more comfortable than were psychologists (nonsignificant), who, nevertheless, were perceived as exceeding all other trained MHPs in the comfortableness experienced by their clients.