{"id":10708,"date":"2022-04-20T10:18:20","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T14:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getmaple.ca\/?p=10708"},"modified":"2025-01-15T13:32:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T18:32:27","slug":"psychiatry-vs-psychology-vs-psychotherapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getmaple.ca\/blog\/psychiatry-vs-psychology-vs-psychotherapy\/","title":{"rendered":"The difference between psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Navigating mental health challenges can be difficult \u2014 especially with so many professionals who all seem to have complex titles that start with \u201cpsych.\u201d That\u2019s why we\u2019re breaking down everything you need to know about three of the most commonly confused terms.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a psychologist? What\u2019s a psychiatrist? What\u2019s a psychotherapist? And when should you see a psychologist vs a psychiatrist vs a psychotherapist? Read on for all you need to know about the differences between psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychotherapists.<\/p>\n

How psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychotherapists approach mental health<\/h2>\n

Psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists specialize in human behaviour and mental conditions. But they don’t treat mental health<\/a> in the same way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Psychiatrist<\/span><\/h3>\n

Psychiatrists focus on disciplines like biology and neurochemistry to help determine the cause of mental illnesses. They often prescribe medications<\/a> to physically treat a condition alongside methods like talk therapy.<\/p>\n

Psychologist<\/span><\/h3>\n

Psychologists use psychological science to focus on your personal behaviours and diagnose mental illnesses. They’ll often monitor sleep, behaviours, or eating habits, and probe into the negative thoughts that could be causing your concern.<\/span><\/p>\n

Psychotherapist
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n

Psychotherapists are mental health professionals that specialize in talk therapy to help you understand yourself better by learning healthy coping techniques. <\/span>Psychotherapists can include psychologists, psychoanalysts, social workers, and some psychiatrists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Difference in education and training<\/span><\/h2>\n

While psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists have to go through rigorous, extensive training in their fields, their education is very different from one another.<\/p>\n

Psychiatrist<\/span><\/h3>\n

Psychiatrists are medical doctors, meaning they’ve earned a degree in medicine. They have much of the same training as a doctor you\u2019d see in a family practice, except they\u2019ve chosen to focus their expertise on treating mental illness and undergone an additional four or more years of training specifically in psychiatry.<\/p>\n

Psychologist<\/span><\/h3>\n

Psychologists have a PhD in psychology, but aren\u2019t trained in medicine. That\u2019s why a psychologist can\u2019t prescribe medication. However, because of their focus on the behavioural and emotional causes of mental illness, they can provide assessments and diagnosis as well as a variety of therapy options.<\/p>\n

Psychotherapist<\/h3>\n

Psychotherapists<\/a> can be counsellors, social workers, or psychiatrists, with specialized certifications in their field. Psychotherapists primarily use counseling, known as talk therapy, to facilitate personal change.<\/p>\n

How psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists treat mental health concerns<\/span><\/h2>\n

Just like their training, there are different treatment methods used by psychiatrists vs psychologists vs psychotherapists. It\u2019s important to note that a mental health physician<\/a> can also provide assistance with medication and prescriptions when a diagnosis is available.<\/p>\n

Psychiatrist<\/span><\/h3>\n

Because they can write prescriptions, psychiatrists usually use a combination of medications and talk therapy to help address their patient’s issues. <\/span><\/p>\n

When prescribing new medications, psychiatrists will request frequent updates from their patients to ensure the medications and dosages are helping. It can take some time to find the right dosage and\/or balance of medications to help a patient while having the least possible side effects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Psychologist<\/span><\/h3>\n

Though they don’t have the ability to write prescriptions for their patients, psychologists often use different, more diverse types of therapy to diagnose and treat mental illness.<\/p>\n

Certain unique types of therapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, may be used to help uncover the underlying emotional causes of mental illness. Psychologists will also specialize in various types of testing, such as IQ or brain health assessments.<\/p>\n

Psychotherapist<\/h3>\n

A psychotherapist, also called a mental health therapist, will focus on different types of talk therapy, such as interpersonal, cognitive-behavioural, dialectical, supportive, and others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If your psychotherapist is also a psychiatrist, they\u2019ll have the ability to prescribe medication.<\/span><\/p>\n

To get to the root of the problem, psychotherapy can be offered in different formats, including couples, families, and groups, along with individual therapy sessions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Common conditions treated by psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists<\/span><\/h2>\n

While there are key differences in the training and available treatments psychiatrists, psychotherapists and psychologists provide, there is often overlap in in the conditions they treat as there is no \u201cone size fits all\u201d solution to your mental health.<\/p>\n

Psychiatrist<\/span><\/h3>\n

For someone with a very serious mental health problem, which might make it hard for them to take care of themselves, or someone who needs medication to adjust certain chemical levels in their brains, psychiatrists are a good choice.<\/p>\n

Some examples of mental illnesses they treat are:<\/p>\n