What is the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist?
Both a psychiatrist and psychologist work in the mental health field. A psychiatrist possesses a Medical Degree (MD) and can prescribe medication, whereas a psychologist earned a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) in psychology and provides talk therapy. Here at CAPS psychologists and psychiatrists work collaboratively to provide mental health treatment for NU students as part of a treatment team.
Even thought they are commonly confused in the media, the general public, and even by other professionals, they are very different in terms of their qualifications, training and scope of practice. One of the factors contributing to the confusion is that individuals trained in both disciplines are qualified to provide psychotherapy (talk therapy), and they both begin with “psy”. Psychiatrists are physicians (Doctors in Medicine, or MDs), who have 4 additional post-doctoral years of training in the prevention, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of patients with mental disorders in the context of their biological, psychological and sociological configurations. Their training has to comply with the ACGME requirements in order to be eligible to be certified in General Psychiatry by the ABPN and the ABMS. Psychologists are not MDs, but rather Ph.D.s or Psy.D.s. They have doctoral training in psychology, and are qualified to administer psychological tests and to do psychotherapy.
