Difference between a psychologist, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst

Taking care of your mental health and consulting professionals who could guide you in the right direction shouldn't be a luxury. With rising awareness and easy access, getting help (even if that means consulting doctors online) is easier than before.

However, navigating the talk about your mental health is as diverse as you can think. There are many branches of medicine and expertise which specialize in mental health care, including counselling, therapy, psychology, psychiatrist and other specialization. While all of these are related and often used interchangeably, they are not the same.

We explain to you the difference between the three fields of therapy:

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who are able to prescribe medications, which they do in conjunction with providing psychotherapy, though medical and pharmacological interventions are often their focus. What sets psychiatrists apart from other experts is that psychiatrists tend to have a deep understanding of physical and mental health – and how they affect each other and devise a treatment plan accordingly. They can help provide help in urgent or sudden mental health conditions, manage it in the long-term, suggest lifestyle changes and work with conditions which can be otherwise complex or a little difficult to diagnose. These experts often provide psychological treatment, medication or certain brain stimulation therapies.

Psychologists aren't medical doctors per se but do provide help and medical interventions to a patient who shows cognitive or behavioural issues. A lot of psychologists do hold doctorate degrees, but they cannot prescribe medicines. They mostly deal with psychotherapy and interventions, especially for patients with acute problems and deficits.

While psychologist is the formal title given to professionals, they also often go by the titles ' counsellor', 'therapist' or mental health worker. Just like a psychiatrist would, psychologists conduct a host of tests and make use of tools to detect psychiatric ailment or illness in a patient but do not suggest medicines. Some of the ways they diagnose conditions include personality tests. Psychiatry can be helpful in dealing with issues like stress disorders, anger issues, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder), brain injuries, ailments and PTSD.

For some patients, combining psychological help with psychiatry, i.e., medicinal help with therapy can show greater and more effective results than simply depending on one form of therapy. Hence, a lot of doctors deal with specializations and combined treatment forms as well, depending on the need and case.

In contrast to psychiatry or psychology, a psychoanalyst deals with a different form of mental health therapy. Psychoanalysis is based on the principles of the expert psychotherapist, Sigmund Freud. Using talk therapy, these experts delve into inner conflicts, past experiences and fantasies to get rid of a given problem from the root. This form of therapy does not involve medicinal use.

Since they deal with episodes from the past and regressions, it is often believed that psychoanalyst dealing can help people suffering from anxiety, depression, panic attacks, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), phobias, relationship trouble or any such self-destructive behaviour. The field often also involves dream analysis and interpretation and often takes a longer time than any form of therapy to work. Patients often meet and consult psychoanalysts for years and are better suited for some patients than others. It can also help those who don't respond well to traditional forms of counselling, medication or therapy.