Part 1 - Differences Between a Psychiatrist and a Psychologist
When it comes to mental health, there is a big gap in terms of awareness among the masses. This includes various aspects like the understanding of the disorders, medication options and even foundational aspects like the difference between a psychiatrist and a Psychologist. I have seen many people use these terms interchangeably. Hence, in this blog series, I intend to elaborate the differences between a Psychiatrist and a Psychologist.
Disclaimer : The purpose of this blog is to help the common man in getting the difference between a psychiatrist and Clinical Psychologist. Medicine being a huge domain, there might be minor differences in certain aspects depending on the geography, context etc.
Since this is a vast topic, I am sharing it as a 3 part series, each touching on 3 different aspects. In this blog, we are going to see the difference in terms of
Education and Training
Prescription Privileges
Approach to treatment
1.Education and Training (Psychiatrist Vs Clinical Psychologist)
Psychiatrists:
Psychiatrists are medical doctors. What does it mean? It means that they have completed a Bachelor’s degree followed by medical school where they get an MD (Doctor of Medicine ) or DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) Degree. After MD, they undergo years of residency training in psychiatry where they gain invaluable hands-on experience in diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.
Clinical Psychologists:
A Clinical Psychologist starts with a general basic graduate program B.Sc(Psychology) in the basic science of psychology. This basic course encompasses the study of human and animal behavior, theories of psychology, psychological techniques and experiments, etc. After B.Sc in psychology, one can pursue a Master degree in various psychology specializations, like clinical psychology, education, psychology, organizational psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, forensic psychology, etc.
A Clinical Psychologist may choose to specialize in clinical psychology dealing with mental health of human beings. After M.Sc in clinical psychology or applied psychology, when they complete clinical psychology in the Department of Clinical Psychology, in a hospital setting with a psychiatry department, they become a Clinical Psychologist. They work and learn in a multidisciplinary team setting, which deals with mental disorders.
2.Prescription Privileges ( Psychiatrist Vs Clinical Psychologist )
Psychiatrists:
Psychiatrists are medical doctors and they have the authority to prescribe medication. This is very important to treat complex mental conditions like Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, or Severe Depression, where medication can be a vital part of the treatment plan. They manage patients’ medical regime including prescription, monitoring, dosage adjustment, etc.
Clinical Psychologists:
In general, they do not have the authority to prescribe medication. Their core area of focus in treatment is psychotherapy / talk therapy. Even though certain regions grant prescription privileges to Clinical Psychologist with additional training, this is not a common practice and varies by jurisdiction.
3. Approach to Treatment (Psychiatrist Vs Clinical Psychologist)
Psychiatrists:
They adopt a more medical model of mental health care.They look for biological causes of mental disorders and use a combination of medication, psychotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy ( ECT ) based on the severity of the cases.
Clinical Psychologists:
Clinical Psychologists facilitate the patients to explore their emotions, behaviors, thoughts, which is aimed at helping them develop coping strategies. Their treatment may include various psychotherapeutic techniques including cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT ), Psychoanalysis etc.
Hope that you are clear about the basic difference between a psychiatrist and a Clinical Psychologist. Now that we have touched upon the basics in this blog, in part 2 , I intend to explain the difference in terms of area of expertise,work settings, diagnostic Techniques etc.
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