What is non-medical counseling?

Posted on September 23, 2015 by David Joel Miller

By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Counseling.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

You do not have a mental illness but counseling may still help.

Do you have problems getting along with a spouse?

Has it been difficult adjusting to a new job or a new town? Kids won’t mind or you are having financial and legal difficulties?

Do you have “anger issues?”

All these things and many more may be reasons to seek counseling, even though you do not have a diagnosable mental illness.

Getting help for these issues early may mean you can live a better life and not have your problems become a mental illness.

There is nothing noble about suffering for long time periods when help is available.

There are a whole slew of life problems that might need working on but they do not rise to the level we would recognize as a mental illness. These issues are listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM-5 is a registered trademark of the APA) even though they are not mental disorders.

The idea behind including these issues is that they cause significant distress to clients. These issues bring people into the offices of doctors, therapists, counselors, and even judges, but they are not at this point in time considered a mental illness.

The result of these distinctions is that while you may want or need help in these areas you will need to look for other sources of help than the doctor and probably your issuance will not cover treatment for them.

EAP’s and Non-Medical Counseling.

Many employee assistance plans will offer you a few sessions with a counselor to work on these issues. They find it is cheaper and better to help employees overcome outside work issues than to let them go and then have to hire and train new employees. So if you have an EAP plan look for help there first.

You may have insurance coverage for some Non-medical counseling issues.

A few medical insurance plans or Behavioral insurance plans, to be more precise, also cover these issues. For some problems of living, you can get other help. Most of these problems have such severe impacts on people’s lives they need treating even if your insurance does not cover them. Private therapists and counselors can help here.

About Life Coaches.

Recently we have seen a proliferation of “life coaches” who also can help you work on life issues that need help but are not technically mental illnesses. Some of these coaches have training and can be very helpful, others have minimal training and will miss when you really need to see a trained professional. Until this gets sorted out and there is some kind of licensing for life coaches, I recommend you seek out a licensed person even if what you need is non-medical counseling or coaching. Most professional counselors are happy to work on life coaching issues also.

First some background and then the list of problems.

In the U. S. we have been used to using the DSM (Currently the DSM-5) for mental illnesses. In the rest of the world, they use the International Classification of Diseases. As of October 1, 2015, the U.S. is switching to use the numbering system the rest of the world uses. We also updated the names that we use to more closely align with the rest of the world. The result, the numbers, and names have changed for some things so you will see multiple names and numbers for those things and some things will get split while others got combined. Do not let the professional’s confusion confuse you.

V Codes and Z Codes.

I have sorted this list to make it easier to write about so the list does not exactly follow the DSM. Things called “V codes” are the old number and the “Z codes” are the new ones. Sometimes two problems had or have one number and others have or had no number. This is not a full list, for that see the DSM-5. I just wanted you to see the flavor of things that might bring someone to counseling which is not technically a mental illness.

Relationship issues

Partner Relational V61.10 Z63.0

Parent-Child V61.12 Z62.820

Sibling Relational VV61.8 Z62.891

Abuse and neglect (victims) V61.12, V61.21, V62.83

Perpetrators of Abuse get a 995 point something number (now a T number)

Bereavement, Grief and Loss – V62.82 or Z63.4

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Posted on September 3, 2012 by David Joel Miller

By David Joel Miller.

Why Bereavement might require counseling.

Bereavement, grief, and loss.
Picture courtesy of Pixabay.

Why Bereavement might require counseling.

Bereavement, the loss of someone close, is a normal part of life. How you react to that Bereavement determines if someone needs to see a counselor. We expect you to go through the process of grieving when they lose someone close to you. If you have difficulty with this process you might need to see a counselor.

Having certain other factors in your life may increase the need for professional help to deal with the bereavement.

Most people can navigate the bereavement process with the help of family, friends, and their faith-based community if they have a particular faith. We expect you to think about the departed person, be sad, and have some physical symptoms. Crying, loss of appetite, poor sleep, and even some weight loss are common in the early stages of bereavement. You may experience more or less of these symptoms. Some people can express this outwardly and some keep the pain inside.

You will probably never completely get over the loss and you are sure to always remember the loved one but at some point, you will begin to be able to return to your life as it was before they passed. You should still be able to work, be close to others among your family and friends, and find some things pleasurable to do.

If the symptoms go on too long they begin to look more like depression than normal grief. How long the bereavement process may take you depends on you and your culture. In American and most of the “western” culture, we expect this process to take 60 days or less. If it goes beyond that we need to look at how this loss is affecting you.

If you have had other problems in the past this may put you at high risk for Bereavement issues. If you have a history of substance abuse issues, bereavement may be a trigger for you. The loss may increase the risk you will relapse. People with histories of mental health issues are also at increased risk when navigating grief and loss.

People with Co-occurring Disorders (dual-diagnosis) are at added risk and need to be making full use of their relapse prevention tools and their support systems during this time.

Experiencing depression, substance abuse episodes, or relapsing into episodes of either are reasons you may decide to seek therapy.

Some warning signs of bereavement problems are listed in the DSM. The symptoms (in my words) include 1. Excess guilt other than about things that happened around the time of the death. 2. Thoughts of death beyond just wishing you had died with or instead of them, especially any thoughts of suicide or allowing yourself to die. 3. Feeling worthless. 4. Sluggishness, lack of energy to do anything 5. Can’t work, be with family or friends or have fun 6. Hallucinations

Bereavement is a V code (in the DSM-5 now a Z code) and is not covered by some insurance plans but if you need help it is well worth the cost to see a counselor.

If you occasionally see the person briefly or hear their voice from time to time we let that go. Depending on your beliefs this may be a very normal experience. If you see or hear other things or this begins to interfere with your life than seek help.

I have used the terms grief and loss in this explanation of bereavement but there are other types of grief and loss besides bereavement. People grieve over lost loves, divorces, job loss, natural disasters, and many other things. None of those fall under the heading of bereavement and they may or may not meet criteria for treatment according to the DSM. But then many people who don’t have a specific diagnosis come to see a counselor, they just need help solving some of life’s problems.

While I can’t provide counseling or therapy via this blog I would love to hear from any of you who care to comment on this post about your experiences with Bereavement and how you moved past it. Questions on this topic or anything having to do with mental health, substance abuse or dual diagnosis are welcome.

Has Bereavement impacted your mental health, substance abuse, dual diagnosis, and how have you coped?

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

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What are V and Z codes? – Things insurance doesn’t cover

Posted on August 31, 2012 by David Joel Miller

By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Counseling questions.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Why are there counseling things that insurance does not cover? V and Z codes.

There are lots of life’s problems that need attention, but they don’t fit neatly under our definition of a mental illness. As a result, most insurance providers won’t pay for treating these problems or if they do there are severe limits on the amount of counseling that you can get for these issues.

These everyday problems that can derail someone’s life get a “V” code. That does not mean they are not important, but it does mean that generally, we don’t see them as an illness, more like a challenge the person must face and overcome. There are over 20 of these “V” codes. (In the DSM-5 this list has gotten longer.)

Some of these are the kind of issues that make the news, the partners who kill each other, and the extreme cases of child abuse. They need treatment but we can’t say that every couple who fights is mentally ill. What we can say is that killing your spouse is not normal or acceptable.

Conflicts with other people are a big part of this, Partner Relations problems, sibling relational problem, parent-child relational problem. These conflicts can cause a lot of damage and they need treatment. Marriage, family, and child counselors specialize in just these issues. The list of relation problems goes like this:

Partner Relations problem

Sibling relational problem

Parent-child relational problem

Relational Problem related to medical or mental disorder

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Tag Archives: V codes and Z codes

What is non-medical counseling?

You do not have a mental illness but counseling may still help.

There is nothing noble about suffering for long time periods when help is available.

EAP’s and Non-Medical Counseling.

You may have insurance coverage for some Non-medical counseling issues.

About Life Coaches.

First some background and then the list of problems.

V Codes and Z Codes.

Bereavement, Grief and Loss – V62.82 or Z63.4

Quote

Why Bereavement might require counseling.

Why Bereavement might require counseling.

What are V and Z codes? – Things insurance doesn’t cover

Why are there counseling things that insurance does not cover? V and Z codes.

You do not have a mental illness but counseling may still help.

There is nothing noble about suffering for long time periods when help is available.

EAP’s and Non-Medical Counseling.

You may have insurance coverage for some Non-medical counseling issues.

About Life Coaches.

First some background and then the list of problems.

V Codes and Z Codes.

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Why Bereavement might require counseling.

Why Bereavement might require counseling.

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Why are there counseling things that insurance does not cover? V and Z codes.

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