Psychiatrist, psychotherapist and psychologist - what is the difference?

Most people face various psychological problems, but not all of them seek professional help. There may be several reasons for this, but the main one is the lack of knowledge about specialists who can help in a given situation.

Depending on the severity of the condition, psychological assistance can be provided by a psychologist, psychiatrist, or psychotherapist. The activities of all these specialists are related to the impact on the state of mind and psyche of a person, however, these are different directions.

Who is a psychologist?

The task of a specialist is to help a person who finds himself in a difficult life situation. His clients are absolutely healthy people who do not have mental disorders, but are in dire need of psychological help.

Features of work

The main difference between a psychologist and a psychotherapist is that he does not have a medical education, that is, he cannot make diagnoses and prescribe medication. His work is based on providing consultations, testing and training that help people get out of a crisis period, increase self-esteem, and improve relationships with others.

There is a wide range of specializations in psychology, including:

• Educational psychologist - works in educational institutions, helping children in their developmental activities, solving behavioral problems, and improving academic performance.
• Family affairs specialist – provides advice to families on resolving conflicts, improving relationships between spouses or with older relatives.
• A specialist in legal psychology, she works with difficult teenagers who are registered with the juvenile affairs department.
• Clinical psychologist – helps people who suffer from severe physiological illnesses or are experiencing stress due to upcoming surgery.

When choosing between visiting a psychologist or psychotherapist, it is important to be aware of the differences between these professions - a specialist in the psychological field is a humanitarian who does not heal, but only helps restore mental balance.

What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?

A psychologist has nothing to do with medicine and the treatment of mental personality disorders.
The most important difference between these specialists is that a psychologist specializes in solving problems of mentally healthy people. The range of problems is quite wide: family troubles, problems with children, personal crises, etc. The problems that a psychologist works with are temporary, but they put a lot of pressure on a person.

A psychologist is a person with a higher specialized education who specializes in psychological support for a mentally healthy person.

This specialist studies the organization of mental processes in order to solve research problems and provide the necessary psychological assistance.

The responsiveness of others is often the best psychologist or psychiatrist. Luule Viilma. In search of truth

To be sure exactly who a psychologist and a psychiatrist are, and what their differences are, you should know the main areas of work of a specialist:

1. Consulting healthy people with temporary problems that are difficult to solve independently.
   Consulting is a huge area of ​​work for a psychologist, which has many ramifications. For example, there is career counseling, family, individual, group and others.
2. Psychocorrection.
   The work of a psychologist is aimed at the development and correction of mental processes: thinking, attention, speech, memory, imagination. This type of psychological assistance is most often recommended for children.

   For example, the reasons why a child lags behind in educational activities may lie in the insufficient development of brain structures. A psychologist, after conducting a diagnosis, can create an individual correction program for the child.

   Adults may also undergo correction. For example, in cases of shyness, anxiety, aggressiveness.

3. Diagnostic work.
   The psychologist, using special tools, diagnoses the problem with which the client has addressed. Psychologist's tools: conversation, tests, questionnaires, observation, experiment.
4. Preventive and educational areas of work.
   The types of work and methods used by psychologists are radically different from the methods used by psychiatrists.

Psychotherapist - who is he and what does he treat?

Who is a psychotherapist?

The work of a psychotherapist is associated with a therapeutic effect on the human psyche. He is pursuing a medical degree and caring for patients who have mental health difficulties. He is often confused with a psychiatrist, but the difference between this specialist is that he is approached not with severe mental illnesses, but with psychosomatic disorders that arise in connection with social, personal, emotional and other problems.

Features of work

The main field of activity of a doctor in the field of psychotherapy is neuroses and neurosis-like conditions, which are manifested by depression, phobias, obsessive thoughts, hypochondria, and sleep disturbances. He strives not only to eliminate symptoms, but also to understand the causes of poor health and to identify the factors that caused mental disorder. To do this, the specialist uses various tools:

• conversation with the patient;
• hypnosis;
• psychotherapeutic techniques (modification of experience, subpersonal analysis, etc.);
• medicines.

If we consider what the difference is between a psychologist and a psychotherapist, it should be noted that the first does not engage in physiological research. He may partly use psychotherapy methods, but does not prescribe medications.

Medical tests

In addition to intellectual tests, a psychiatrist must examine a person’s internal state. This can be judged by the results of the following procedures:

1. Biochemical examination. The content of one or another element in the blood can indicate various neuropsychic complications.
2. Endocrinological examination. Hormonal imbalances can cause depression, panic, and psychosis.
3. Immunological tests. Viruses, especially those that are sexually transmitted, are often the cause of mental disorders.
4. Toxicological studies. These may not necessarily be drugs or pills. Brain disorders cause poisoning from industrial or household chemicals, heavy metals or hazardous waste.
5. Electroencephalogram - drawing on paper curves of the activity of parts of the brain.
6. Polysomnography is also an EEG, but it is applied during the deep stage of sleep. Allows you to identify many diseases that are difficult to diagnose while the patient is awake.
7. Nuclear magnetic tomography. This is the most modern method for diagnosing brain problems. Allows you to see even the smallest details that the EEG cannot capture. It can detect cancer in its earliest stages and prevent stroke.

Who is a psychiatrist

A psychiatrist is a specialist in the field of psychiatry who works with severe mental pathologies. Unlike an expert in the field of psychology, he has a specialized medical education and conducts drug therapy. The problems of his patients are so serious that he cannot limit himself to providing consultations.

Features of work

If a psychologist or psychotherapist uses more psychological techniques in their work, then the main tool of a psychiatrist, which distinguishes him from these professions, is medications. The difference is that, theoretically, it can influence the patient’s soul with compassion or warmth, but its main treatment is based on the prescription of psychotropic drugs, often powerful and prescribed.

You can understand how a psychiatrist differs from a psychotherapist and psychologist by looking at the list of diseases that he treats:

• bipolar disorder;
• affective insanity;
• hallucinations, delusions;
• epilepsy;
• schizophrenia;
• psychopathy;
• Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases;
• memory or consciousness disorder;
• functional psychosis.

To fully understand the difference, it should be noted that the work of a psychiatrist is regulated by the law on psychiatry. In some cases, a specialist has the right to compulsorily hospitalize a person - when the disease threatens the life (health) of the patient himself or those around him.

Mental problems

The modern, fast pace of life causes constant stressful situations that a person simply does not have time to deal with. Such tension in itself is dangerous to health, but sometimes traumatic events occur that the psyche may not be able to cope with.

At such moments, a person realizes that something is wrong with him: he feels a lack of mood and desire to do anything, and physical malaise. Internal strength disappears, so it is no longer possible to solve the problem on your own. Some turn to loved ones for support, others completely immerse themselves in work, ignoring the problem. Others make a choice in favor of the worst “helper” - alcohol. But only a few realize the need to see a psychologist or psychotherapist.

Who should I turn to for help?

To understand exactly what the difference is between a psychiatrist, psychologist and psychotherapist, let’s present the competence of these specialists in a table.

If you understand how a psychologist differs from a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, you can not only understand the difference between these specialties, but also choose exactly the doctor who is needed at the moment. The main thing is not to delay visiting a specialist, because timely treatment begins significantly increases the chance of recovery.

Areas of knowledge

The first and most important thing in which they differ is the field of knowledge in which each of them is [under a successful combination of circumstances] a specialist. So, psychiatry. Firstly, it is part of medicine. Those. areas of knowledge and industry dedicated to diseases and their treatment, prevention, prevention and rehabilitation after. Psychiatry studies various types of mental disorders. She doesn't deal with the norm. Or rather, not like that: she deals with her in the sense that she tries to bring her patients to her, but if a person is mentally healthy and does not intend to lose this status, then she most likely will not be interested in him. Psychology is almost the complete opposite. Firstly, this is not a branch of medicine (yes, there is so-called medical psychology, but more about it below and separately). She studies the work of the psyche. A normal healthy psyche, for the most part (again, yes, there is pathopsychology, but we will also consider it separately). Those. For her, a healthy person, rejected by psychiatry because of his normality, will be interesting in practical and theoretical terms. But psychology does not deal with treatment. But he is engaged in increasing the level of adaptation, personal effectiveness, personal growth and other similar things. Psychotherapy. This is also part of medicine. In the sense that it considers, studies and practices the treatment of mental illness. But, at the same time, she can also deal with the normalization / solution of the problems of a healthy person. Those. in the field of problems being solved, this is a mixture of psychiatry and psychology.

How to understand if a given specialist is good

This section will be pure IMHO. The surest way: study yourself at least at an intermediate level in psychopharmacology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychology and talk to a specialist. Long, expensive, high quality. Attention : this method does not work for people with delusional concepts: if your reality testing is seriously impaired, then for you there is only one answer - nothing. If this is not possible, then there are a few simple rules: 1. Your specialist must have at least an approximate idea of ​​what evidence-based medicine is (even if he is just a psychologist), and how his methods are perceived by her. You can quite successfully work with a specialist who uses methods that do not have proven effectiveness (for example, psychoanalysis), but knowledge of what EBM is, why it is needed, why it is important is a certain general cultural level of a specialist, and if it is not there, talk about nothing. 2. Your specialist should not be intimidated by the words Pubmed and Cochrane. It’s even better if he knows what it is and why he needs it (or convincingly prove that he doesn’t need it, although there are possible options here). 3. Your specialist himself undergoes personal therapy. Even if he is a psychiatrist. Personal therapy is an awesome experience that cannot be replaced by anything. 4. Your specialist knows English at a level sufficient to read professional literature. Simply because all the most interesting and new things are published on it (or quickly translated into it), and if a specialist does not speak this language, he will be on the sidelines of progress. Titles, categories, diplomas, studies and the like don’t mean anything. Experience. Experience is a good thing, but it must be properly integrated and interpreted. And it’s not like “the same clinical mistakes repeated for 20 years.” Reviews... You need to be careful with reviews. This is an area where, in addition to the usual “everyone lies” glorified in House, there is also a lack of awareness. And one discreetly positive review from a schizoid can mean more than ten emotionally enthusiastic praises from a hysterical person (or it may not mean that). How to evaluate the quality of reviews? See the first sentence of the section.