what dergrees are needed for psycologist, psyciatrist, and therapist?

Question

i would like to know the degrees needed for these careers and similar ones and the differences

Answer 1

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor, holds a medical degree (MD), and prescribes medication. His/her training is on the medical/ biological/ neurological bases of mental illness. While some may do therapy, they are not usually trained in psychotherapy.

A psychologist has a PhD or PsyD and specializes in therapy, psychological assessment, and consultation (amongst other things). To hold the title of psychologist, they are required to have a doctorate. They are trained in psychological theory and the behavioral, cognitive, social, dynamic (etc) causes of mental illness. In most states, they cannot prescribe medication. However, in some states (like New Mexico and Louisiana, I believe), psychologists can prescribe medication with additional training.

A therapist is much like a psychologist, however, they are Masters-level (MA, MS, MSW) and do not perform formal psychological evaluations/assessments. But they do things like individual therapy, family therapy, and case management.

All three professions have to be licensed by the state board of psychology, social work, or medicine.

Answer 2

A psychiatrist can prescribe medication and a pscyhologist cannot therefore i believe you need a medical degree to be a psychiatrist, along with psychology training.

To be a psychologist you need a degree in psychology, and then the further training you need depends on what type of psychologist you wish to be (the training varies quite alot) eg. counselling psychologist, education psychology, forensic psychologist etc.

A therapist (if it is like a cousellor in the UK) is similar to a couselling pscyhologist yet you do not nessesary need a degree, however you do need to have taken many couselling courses and completed a certain ammount of hours amoung other things. A degree in couselling or psychology will also be helpful for this career. As a cousellor you do not deal with what are classed as the more serious mental illnesses, instead those cases are reffered to psychologists. In the UK however counsellors are often used to assess patients to whether they need purely couselling or are more severe and need to see a psychologist.

For more information on psychology if your in the UK, check out the BPS (British Psychologist Society) website as they explain the different training you need for different pscyhologist. I'm sure there must be a similar website for Psychiatry, there may even be information on this site for that too. There is a British Couselling Society as well i believe but i'm not sure of the website or the exact name.

I'm also sure there must be American versions of these so if thats where you are, a simple yahoo search on say American Psychology Society would probably get some results.

Answer 3

A Psychologist has atleast a Master's in Psychology and is trained in the Science of the mind. A Psychiatrist has a degree in Psychiatry and some medical training. The major difference is the Psychiatrist is able to prescribe drugs as well as counsel patients and Psychologist assists with just Therapy.

Therapist is a very broad term. There are some "Therapist" with bachelor's degrees though many have masters in Counseling, Social Work or a similar field. There are my licensing programs for those with degrees in these field so your title might "Licensed Clinical Therapist" or something similar.

The possibilities for employment in these fields vary widely from drug and alcohol counseling, working in schools, one on one therapy, etc.

Answer 4

A Ph.D for psycologist and guidance counselor--B.A, + PhD. An M.D (B..A. + medical school + psychiatry=PhD) for a psychiatrist. For a really good one, lots and lots of clinical training and years of supervision! It is so easy for some to cross the line of clinician-patient relationship, and begin to meet his/her OWN needs from the person they are trying to help!! The intimacy in the therapy--revealing things and feeling never usually discussed with another person--can be very seductive if the therapist has not had enough therapy themselves! And even must have some form of peer-review throughout his professional life.

Answer 5

Whatever degree(s) you decide on, it's important that you either (a) learn to spell or (b) learn to use tools to help you (like spell- checking programs). Regardless of what you'd like to think, proper use of language is still a marketable skill...