Difference between psychologist, psychiatrist and psychotherapist

In common language the terms Psychologist, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist They are often erroneously used as interscambious. Beyond the terminological confusion, this attitude indicates a poor knowledge of the skills and roles relating to each professional figure.

Let’s try to clarify a little clarity Differences between psychologist, psychotherapist, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst:

The psychologist

The psychologist is not a doctor. He is a health professional graduated in Psychology. Subsequently he is enabled for the exercise of the profession by a state exam that allows him to access theRegistration of the professional register. A doctor in psychology that did not carry out the regular internship (1 year) and has not passed the 4 tests provided for the state exam is not in fact a psychologist. In fact, he cannot register in the register and cannot practice the profession deriving from his title.

The profession of the psychologist is regulated by a specific legislation, the code of ethics, which defines its duties and limits. The main purpose of the work of the psychologist – different from that of the psychotherapist who is oriented towards the care of psychopathology – is the prevention of discomfort or psychological disorders, the promotion of the well -being of the person and the recovery of the samethrough attention focused on the functioning of the mind, with its physiological, psychological, personological, relational and environmental components.

In particular, the psychologist works to improve the individual’s ability to understand himself and others and to behave in a conscious, congruous and effective way. It can work in the clinical field, but also of companies, sport, school, health, etc. It can carry out interventions addressed to the individual, to the group, but also to the community. The main tool for intervention by the psychologist is the psychological interview. This can accompany the administration of psychological tests with a diagnostic and orientative function.

The psychologist who is not specialized and qualified for psychotherapy It does not have the training for the treatment of psychological or psychiatric disorders. In the clinical field it can diagnose, support, and suggest adequate treatment paths. It can also offer advice and psychological support to all those who present a discomfort or a problem that does not configure the symptoms of a psychopathology. In any case, the psychologist not being a doctor it cannot prescribe drugs.

The psychotherapist

There psychotherapy It is the clinical tool that allows you to treat, through non -pharmacological tools, psychopathological disorders. Italian law provides that graduates in psychology or medicine who have acquired a specific one can be enabled to exercise psychotherapy post-lauream training. This provides for a path, at least four yearsat university specialization schools or recognized by MIUR according to current legislation.

That of “psychotherapist” is therefore a Additional legal title Compared to that of psychologist or doctor, who guarantees aforementioned training. In fact, this title derives from a 4-year study path of post-lauream specialization. This also provides for continuous practical internship and supervision by expert psychotherapists.

In the field of psychotherapy there are Many approacheswhich foresee somewhat different theories and methods. From traditional psychoanalysis, to systemic-family therapy, to the most modern cognitive behavioral therapy. This is currently the most widespread in the western world because it is the only one to have a amount of scientific research to support its effectiveness.

The psychotherapist – unlike the psychologist – is therefore the professional indicated in the treatment of psychopathological disorders.

The title of psychotherapist does not however enable the prescription of drugs, if the clinician is a psychologist and not a doctor.

The psychoanalyst

Sometimes a further terminological difficulty leads the “non -employees to the sector” to confuse the previous qualifications with the psychoanalyst (or psychoanalyst). In common language, in fact, the Psychoanalyst term (or analyst) is mistakenly used to indicate anyone who practices a psychotherapeutic activity.

The psychoanalyst is instead a psychotherapist who exercises his clinical practice based on a precise reference approach (precisely psychoanalytic ones). Psychoanalysis has its roots in the Freudian theory And it stands out enormously from other forms of psychotherapy (see cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy, etc.). For example, for setting rules (frequency and duration of the sessions, methods of therapist interaction – patient) and for intervention strategies.

The psychiatrist

In the Italian legal system the psychiatrist is a Graduated in Medicine and Surgery with specialization in Psychiatry. So it’s first of all a doctor: it can prescribe generic and/or psychotropic drugs and request and evaluate clinical exams.

Psychiatry is the specialist branch of medicine that deals with the study, prevention, care and rehabilitation of mental disorders and pathological behaviors. The psychiatrist is naturally able to diagnose about all psychopathological disorders. It evaluates the symptoms and clinical course and proposes a cure that can be directed towards a pharmacological and/or psychotherapeutic intervention.

The psychiatrist, as a doctor, can also have psychotherapeutic training. In this case it will have the additional title Psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Italian law allows psychiatrists to have the title of psychotherapist on a simple request to the professional order. This does not mean, as it is for psychologists, that the psychiatrist-psychotherapist has attended a four-year specialization school in psychotherapy. The psychiatrist is free to evaluate, in science and consciousness, if and which training course to carry out.

Differences between psychologist, psychiatrist and psychotherapist

Who to turn to when we have a psychological distress

In the presence of a subjective discomfort that does not involve a real symptomatology, it can be useful to initially contact the psychologist with whom to evaluate the nature of the problem presented. We will thus be able to find valuable indications on the opportunity or not of one psychological adviceof a real psychotherapy and/or one psychiatric advice. The latter two are required if the discomfort is configured as a diagnosed psychic disorder, with more or less severe symptoms.

When a psychic disorder negatively affects the functioning of the person, for example at the relational, social or working level, the intervention of the psychiatrist It can help. The setting of a pharmacological treatment can in fact be very useful both to alleviate the degree of suffering and to restore the necessary and sufficient conditions for psychotherapeutic work.

In the same way, the intervention of the psychotherapist aims to reduce the patient’s suffering by acting on the psychic and behavioral mechanisms underlying the problem. Psychiatrist and psychotherapist therefore work on different faces of the same medal, the psychic distress, each with their own skills. With a view to integration mind and body, even better if Psychiatrist and psychotherapist they work in close collaboration. One dealing with restoring physiological balance, the other to restore psychological balance.