The Difference Between Psychologists and Psychiatrists

A lot of people seem to be confused regarding the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are medical doctors. They have gone through the traditional training required for any M.D., then have had additional training to specialize in psychiatric medicine. The main thing you need to keep in mind is that Psychiatrists can prescribe medications. They are familiar with the physical as well as mental aspects of the conditions they treat.

Psychologists earn degrees much like educators. They can obtain a Bachelors degree only or advance further to earn a Masters. Their highest level of education is a Doctorate, but even though you can refer to a psychologist as a ‘doctor,’ they are not doctors in the medical sense, but rather doctors like a professor at a university. The degree designates the level of their education, not an education in medicine.

Obviously, it takes a lot more time, effort and education to become a psychiatrist. Their time is very valuable. Nowadays the primary function of a psychiatrist is to prescribe and manage medications. This means that the average psychiatric office visit is only be about fifteen minutes long.

On the other hand, the average psychologist or counseling visit, is about forty-five minutes. It’s kind of like you give your psychologist the full version of your personal novel while you give your psychiatrist the abbreviated version. In most instances, psychiatrists will tell their patients to get further support through a counselor. You sign a release which allows the two to share information so that your needs are more fully and efficiently met.

Not all mental patients need to see a psychiatrist in order to obtain treatment. If you need a mild to moderate degree of medication you can oftentimes work through your primary care doctor and/or their physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, etc. Usually they will strongly urge you to meet with a counselor as well, which helps them monitor you more efficiently, just like a psychiatrist.

If you think you have a problem, I would recommend that you see your primary care doctor first, then go from there. You may or may not need medication. They could simply send you to counseling, but it is always wise to get a medical opinion.