171. What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?

Psychologists and psychiatrists both provide treatment to individuals with emotional problems.  Psychology is both a profession and an independent scientific discipline. Psychiatry is a specialization within the field of medicine.

There are many similarities in the treatment provided by psychologists and psychiatrists, and there are also many differences.

• Psychology is founded on the study of all human behavior, both normal and abnormal. Psychiatry focuses on the treatmnt of emotional illness.
• Psychologists focus on the environmental and learning-based causes for emotional problems. Psychiatrists see emotional problems as a medical illness process, based on some abnormality or malfunctioning of the human body.
• Psychologists help people control and change their own behavior as a primary method of treating problems. Psychiatrists prescribe medication as a primary means of changing people’s behavior.
• Both psychologists and psychiatrists assume that complex emotional problems are more likely to be the result of both biological and psychological causes.