The Difference Between A Psychiatrist And Psychologist

So maybe you've been thinking that you need to go talk to somebody about your marriage your parenting signs of depression or anxiety serious emotional difficulties that you're living with day to day or maybe just the overall stress of life so you know that you would benefit from help from an objective person but who do you call do you call a psychologist or do you call a psychiatrist do you know the difference.

I'm a psychologist who works with people in therapy on emotional and mental health issues the main difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist is that a psychiatrist can write prescriptions for medication a psychologist is the one who is going to provide therapy now there are psychiatrists who do provide therapy but it's really rare psychologists are the ones that develop more of a relationship with you.

Because they spend more time with you talking about those things that help you feel stuck so a psychologist is going to help you with the kind of treatment to help you know how to get yourself unstuck what I tell people all the time is as a psychologist I'm trying to work myself out of a job because I don't want to create a dependency where I become so important to a family or to a relationship that they really don't know what to do without me.

I want people to not need me anymore because they've got the tools in order to do it on their own another difference is in their education psychiatrists have a medical degree so they're either an MD or a do and their education and training usually is in a medical setting a psychologist has a PhD or what's called an EDD through education departments and a psychologist has their education and training usually in clinics or in some psychiatric hospitals or even in the university setting.

In fact if you see a social worker or somebody who has a master's in counseling who's seeing you in therapy those people cannot call themselves a psychologist there are actually PhDs who can't call themselves a psychologist in most states somebody can only call themselves a psychologist if they have a PhD and they passed the licensing test through their State Board only people who have done the licensing at the PhD level can call themselves a psychologist.

Both psychologists and psychiatrists are concerned about issues related to mental and emotional health both want to see people get better both establish a relationship with their patients so that they can have the data to provide the best treatment possible both want to follow up to help guide the treatment they're providing both are required to continue to learn new techniques and treatment methods to provide the best care both are licensed.

And monitored by state board which governs their credentialing and ethical behavior whenever I work with somebody in therapy I know you're not actually going to always feel better when you leave in fact sometimes you feel about the same but what's different is you have found ways to change the way you think about it and so the real work happens when you leave therapy because you're going to marinate on all the things that were discussed.

And all the different ideas to help you find your blind spots and that helps people move forward in a more hopeful manner if you're wondering how to find a good psychologist or psychiatrist in your community here is my best tip find out who the best physicians and attorneys are in your area go ahead and give them a call you don't have to give your name and just ask who is the person that you refer to for marital therapy or maybe you're asking about therapy for depression or anxiety.

You make enough calls like that there's a name that's going to come up over and over and over and that's already qualified it for you because you know those referral sources have already done the work and see the person working with their patients to know that person's good so once you get that name go ahead and give a call and get more information to see if that's a good fit now you know the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist share this article with someone that you know would benefit from the information.

psychology

Author:
jeremy-dawes

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