What are the differences between Psychologist, Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist?

Psychologist, psychiatrist or psychotherapist, who do I go to?

In our daily life, and especially in Mexico, the fact of speaking either of a psychologist, psychiatrist, or psychotherapist It generates some anxiety in us, due to the fact of thinking "I'm not crazy, why should I attend?".

Being this and the lack of knowledge of the functions of each of these professionals what lead us to choose the wrong specialist, and therefore, leads us to devalue the work of these health professionals.

That is why my intention with this article is to show you the differences that exist between each of these professionals and thus, be able to choose and discern about who is your best option to take care of your mental health, because this is the basis of everything.

Psychologist or "todologist"?

Surely you are wondering, why todologist? In our daily work and in case you have the opportunity to search in job boards for jobs for psychologists, you will realize that they employ us for everything.

And yes, with everything I mean from a position that we can perform because academically we have the knowledge, to sales jobs, but this is not our function.

A psychologist has the basic and general knowledge to understand the emotional and affective behavior of the human being, as well as being able to diagnose some type of disorder or mental illness, through evaluations and follow-ups that we do.

We as psychologists we are not even trained to prescribe medications nor to give therapy unless we have a specialty, master's or doctorate.

Why? It's basically because we qualify as general psychologists. Although there are universities in which they tell you that you graduate with some specialized knowledge, this is not the case.

Since the current plan in both the UNAM mode, as in SEP mode, who are the ones that govern most of the degrees in Mexico, the programs are based so that your knowledge is general and once you graduate you can work in the area of ​​your choice.

We are able to work from small communities with the design of social programs, to work in renowned hospitals in the psychological support for patients.

However, it is necessary that as a psychologist you keep up to date according to your area of ​​interest and knowledge. And in case you want to go to a psychologist for therapy, he has to have some kind of specialty.

Psychiatrist equals mental illness?

In this way I begin to talk about psychiatrists, because the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about a psychiatrist is a psychiatric hospital and therefore our huge reference called Hollywood, where psychiatric hospitals are for "patients mental ".

And the truth is very different. A psychiatrist does not necessarily work in a psychiatric hospital, nor does he work in a medical clinic. There are many independent psychiatrists who, like any other doctor, they have their own office and they can accept patients in it, without the need to refer them to a specialized center.

As I mentioned before, a psychiatrist is a doctor. To become a psychiatrist, the specialist had to have studied medicine and had his professional license as general practitioner and later have completed his specialty as a psychiatrist.

Therefore, these specialists in addition to the diagnosis of a mental illness or disorder, they are the only ones who can prescribe medications in case the person's condition warrants it.

What are these cases? This will depend on each psychiatrist, since most people come to them when their symptoms are seen seriously, that is, an anxiety that culminates in panic attacks, severe depression, eating disorders among many others that can limit to the person in their daily life.

Keep in mind that the psychiatrist will be concerned about the physiological symptoms of the person in order to reduce them and that he is able to have a normal life without limitations.

Are they all psychotherapists?

At the beginning of this article I pointed out and differentiated between the mental health specialists. We have already talked about psychologists and psychiatrists, but as I started this section, I answer the same question with a no, not all of them are psychotherapists.

A psychotherapist is one who has the knowledge to impart specialized psychological therapy in a certain approach. It is essential to mention some approaches, such as the psychoanalytic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, humanistic therapy, systemic therapy, among many others.

These health professionals can be anyone who has studied a specialty or a master's degree in these approaches, since they have the knowledge of how to carry out these psychological currents, as well as the techniques to implement during each therapy so that the patient is able to get ahead.

How such they have the ability to identify a condition, but cannot make a final diagnosis or evaluation, since that is the task of psychologists, but their function is more focused on how to direct the therapy so that it bears fruit with the needy patient.

So who do I turn to?

From my experience, you need to look for a Specialist psychologist in therapy with whom you as a person feel comfortable and at ease, Especially when talking about everything that exists in your head, even if the specialist you choose sounds irrational or illogical, they must be able to sustain these thoughts and the emotions that revolve around them..

There is no one better than another. In the field of mental health, multidisciplinary work is essential, because when working with something intangible we cannot do everything, that is why it is essential that you work with whoever you feel the freedom to express yourself and in case you need it, the same specialist will give you he will channel with whoever he deems necessary. The most important thing to keep in mind is that change begins with you.