Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Counsellor – Differences

Difference between Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Psychotherapist and a Counsellor.

One of the first set of questions that a client or a potential client would ask me is what is counselling and what is the difference between a counsellor, psychotherapist and psychiatrist?

I will try to answer this question with a practical on the ground approach. I’m not going to focus on the definitions here.

A Psychiatrist is someone with medical degree that is MBBS, and with the post graduate degree of a MD (Doctor of Medicine) in psychiatry or DNB (Diplomate of National Board) in psychiatry. A psychiatrist practices in a clinical setup – private practice or in a hospital setup. They can diagnose a patient and can provide a prescription and a treatment plan to manage and prevent the illnesses. A psychiatrist works with patients with moderate to severe mental illnesses like clinical depression, severe anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, any kind of psychosis, treatment for  de-addiction, Alzheimer’s, dementia and many others etc.

A Psychologist is someone who has a Masters in Psychology and may have a doctoral degree.  A Psychologist can prefer to focus on the application of psychology or can focus on research.  The focus of the Masters could be on counselling psychology, clinical psychology, organisational psychology, applied psychology etc.  There are other specific specializations like sports psychology forensic psychology, occupational psychology etc as well.

Psychotherapy is a broad overarching term for any kind of talk therapy.  Anybody who provides talk therapy might call them self a psychotherapist. But it is important to find someone with the right kind of training and experience. They will typically have a Masters in Psychology or in Psychotherapy.  With clients who do not have any significant mental illness, the therapist works with them to help them address their emotional issues, help them deal with their difficult life situations better, learn new ways of thinking and behavior, learn new skills etc. They may use specific therapeutic modalities, techniques and approaches that are relevant to the client.  Therapist can work with individuals, couple, family or in a group. To work with clients with more significant mental illnesses like depression, anxiety, OCD etc., the psychotherapist works in tandem along with a psychiatrist to provide talk therapy along with the medication provided by the psychiatrist. In general, therapy is seen as long term and for more severe issues.

Counselling Psychologist works with clients who do not have any significant or severe mental illnesses. They work with clients to enable them to deal with their life situation or to cope with the life situation in a more effective manner. A counsellor would typically have a Masters in counselling psychology. Here there is a overlap between what a counsellor does and the therapist. Some practitioners may also interchange these two terms. A counsellor can work with individuals, couples, family or in a group setting depending on their training and focus area. In general, counselling is seen as short term intervention for clients with mild/ moderate issues and no severe mental illnesses.

Clinical Psychologists can work in tandem with a psychiatrist to work with clients with severe mental illnesses. They would have a Masters in clinical psychology.  They are trained to administer psychological tests and also to provide a diagnosis.  They also can work with clients to provide counselling or therapy as well based on their training and focus areas.