whats the difference??

Question

whats the difference between a psychologist and a psychrastis? i know one can prescribe meds and one cant...which ones which?? whats the difference?

Answer 1

The psychiatrist has an MD and prescribes medications. The psychologist has a PhD or PsyD. MDs and PhDs can do research, if they choose. PsyD tends to be less research oriented and more associated with private practice/counceling. In terms of treatment, the psychologist provides different types of mental and behavioral therapies - motivational enhancement therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy. Psychiatrists and psychologists often work together as many patients require both drug therapy and MET/CBT.

Finally, the term psychologist is actually really broad. In addition to studying mental disorders, attitudes, etc they can also study the role of the brain in vision (color, lines, faces, objects, etc), hearing (sound, music, speech), emotion, memory, decision making, attention, and so on. There are also psychologists who help those who have had some sort of mental trauma (e.g. stroke, alzheimers) to train people how to cope with their subsequent deficiency. I am in the psychology department, but I study face perception. Anything I know about disorders I've learned by being a teaching assistant in classes such as abnormal psychology. I am not nor ever will be qualified to diagnose people.

Answer 2

A Psychiatrist has an MD and can prescribe Medications as well as do therapy.

A Psychologist usually has a PsyD and can not prescribe meds. Both have valid places in the Mental health Field

Too Many Psychiatrists rely too much on medications and don't do the follow up therapy to help the client develop the coping skills necessary to deal with their root cause issues in my opinion, But I'm a Psychologist.

Answer 3

A psychiatrist has a M.D., has gone to medical school, and doesn't do counseling other than prescribing medication. A psychologist has a PhD or PsyD and can provide clinical therapy. As mentioned above, Psychology doesn't necessarily mean therapist/counselor, etc. I'm a 2nd year Psych graduate student, with an emphasis in quantitative psychology (statistics). The field of Psychology has become heavily researched based and even people in Clinical PhD programs have to learn how to do research.

Answer 4

A Psychiatrist has a medical degree, with a specialty in psychiatry. A psychologist can present their self as a psychologist with a BA degree with psychology as their major. Most practicing psychologists I know have a masters degree in psychology. Both mental health interventionists have a lot of competition, and it seems to me, they encourage their clients to continue to pursue the aid of the practitioner to provide a way to intervene in the aberration.

Answer 5

psychiatrist - a doctor who treats mental illness.

psychologist - A person trained and educated to perform psychological research, testing, and therapy.