Psychiatrist / Psychologist

[mcraig]

What job title would the people who treat patients in mental hospitals have?

Would they be a psychiatrist or a psychologist?

What's the difference?? Which pays more?? WHat degrees are needed for both and which courses would you have to take for the two??

[Dr Wu]

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who to specialise in the pharmacological/biological treatment of mental illness (drugs basically). You need a medical degree for this plus a fair bit of post-grad specialisation

Psychologists (aka clinical psychologists) are trained in psychological/psychotherapeutic treatments for psychological disorders. They can also be 'doctors' but by virtue of their PhD as oppossed to a medical degree. You need a Psychology degree for this plus post grad (masters or doctoral level) accredited clin psych training.

In mental hospitals you can also have psychotherapists/occupational therapists and psychiatric nurses who treat patients.

I'm a psychiatric nurse who is also a psychotherapist who also has the title 'Doctor'....all clear then?

[Dr Wu]

Forgot to mention that psychiatrists can also practice psychotherapy (usually psycho-dynamic but increasingly cognitive-behavioural these days) as well as medical treatments which means that there is significant overlap with psychologists/psychotherapists except that the latter groups cannot prescribe....unless of course you're a nurse-therapist who has done one of the 'nurse-prescribing' courses which are becoming more common these days.


ps: the easy answer is that psychiatry pays more (90K at least for a consultant) but that takes a hell of a lot of student debt to get there and it's not easy, seriously not easy!

[Dr Wu]

and finally............

It's probably worth mentioning that 'Mental Hospitals' are no longer where the bulk of mental health care is carried out. Primary care/community care and assorted out-patient clinics via community mental health teams (CMHTs) have somewhat superceded the old asylums over that last 20 years or so.