Many persons are confused about the difference between psychiatry and psychology. The following discussion, therefore, offers an objective, concise, and simply-stated description of the difference.

Psychiatry

A psychiatrist has attended medical school and is a physician and therefore holds an M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) degree. In residency, he or she received specialized training in the field of psychiatry, in addition to all the rigorous training of medical school in general. And, just like other fields of medical practice such as internal medicine, psychiatry tends to focus mainly on the use of medications for treatment. Moreover, although psychiatric training may require some training in psychotherapy, psychiatrists are not required to complete any personal psychotherapy. Nevertheless, many psychiatrists have, for personal reasons, pursued training in psychotherapy. Historically, this training has most often been in the area of psychoanalysis.

Psychology

A psychologist usually holds a doctoral degree (a Ph.D., which means Doctor of Philosophy; a Psy.D., which means Doctor of Psychology; or an Ed.D., which means Doctor of Education) from a university or professional school. Generally, if he or she is in clinical practice, the degree will be in Clinical Psychology (although it might be in Counseling Psychology). With the exception of the Psy.D. (a purely clinical degree), all psychologists have had extensive training in research, having completed an original scientific study—called a doctoral dissertation—as a major part of the training.

In fact, the psychologist’s training in research is what most distinguishes a psychologist from other providers of mental health treatment. Not only does the field of psychology use research to assess the effectiveness of various forms of treatment, but also any psychologist trained in research should have acquired some solid skills useful for analyzing information and drawing conclusions in psychotherapy sessions.

As students, future psychologists also receive training in psychological testing.

Moreover, in addition to their academic training, psychologists will have completed one or more clinical internships (which provide practical training in diagnosis, assessment, and psychotherapy), and they will have experienced at least a year of required personal psychotherapy.

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