The Difference Between Psychology and Psychiatry

I am often asked what the difference is between a Psychologist and a Psychiatrist.

Basically a Psychologist is someone who spent their entire collegiate experience pursuing an education in human behavior. There are literally hundreds of types of degrees one can get under the heading of Psychology, including Clinical Psychology which is typically used to treat individuals and families in a therapeutic setting.

A psychologist is the professional ones seeks to deal with everything from marriage trouble to a serious mental illness. Therapy is generally done on a weekly basis in either an office setting, a clinic or hospital setting. Psychologists are not medical doctors and therefore cannot prescribe medicine such as anti-depressants or sleep aids.

A Psychiatrist on the other hand was a medical doctor first. S/he went to medical school and received a degree in medicine. Many psychiatrists set out to become psychiatrists, but many realize their calling after doing their "psych" rotation while pursuing their medical degree.

Those medical doctors who want to become psychiatrists finish an additional 1-2 year program in human behavior and psychopharmachology in order to become a mental health professional. Because they have a degree in medicine they are able to prescribe drugs to their patients.

In the US, psychiatry has become largely a profession of assessment and pharmaceutical maintenance for their patients, while psychology has taken on the major role of ongoing therapy. It is not uncommon for a patient to see their psychologist for weekly therapy while only seeing their psychiatrist quarterly for a brief assessment and a prescription renewal.