subject: Psychiatrist Vs Psychologist [print this page] A mental health professional with a PhD or Psy.D in psychology is basically known as a psychologist. The training and education includes six year graduate degree in therapeutic treatment of the emotional problems, human behavior, psychological test administration and construction, statistical analysis of data, experimental research, and clinical internship.
The individuals studying clinical psychology have to go through a rigorous training in techniques and theories of psychotherapy. Of all health care professionals, only psychologists can report and administer the outcomes of the psychological tests.
The difference between psychiatrist and psychologists mainly are in terms of their qualification and area of practice. Psychiatrists are the medical doctors (M.D.s) whose education and training includes at least 4 years of extra clinical training and medical school. Due to the medical training, they are able to bring an understanding of emotional and medical issues into their practice. They posses deep knowledge of medication and its effects and use it during the treatment of patient. Among all mental health care professionals, psychiatrists are only able to evaluate patients for a particular medication and can prescribe drugs.
Psychotherapist refers to only those individuals who are engaged in psychotherapy. The term does not imply to a specific educational discipline, license or training. The therapist you go to for your treatment must hold a professional degree in a specific filed of mental health care and must possess a license to practice it. The career of a psychiatrist starts at a medical school. After acquiring MD, they further go for a 4 year medical health residency training, generally in hospital's psychiatric department.
After the completion of their residency training the physicians gets a license to practice psychiatry. The psychologists have to go through 5-7 years of graduate study, leading to a doctor degree. They may own a Psy.D or PhD. Those individual who are interested in clinical psychology and treating people can pursue Psy.D. The requirements for licensing may differ from one state to another.
Being a medical doctor a psychiatrist is able to do the things that psychologist cannot:
They can prescribe medications. The Louisiana state has now permitted the psychologists to consult psychiatrist and write medications. The most common misconception about the psychologists is that they only cure people suffering from mental disorders like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. The psychiatrists working at the hospitals and clinics see many tough cases. The majority of cases are of those people who are suffering from a serious mental disease.
