Whats The Difference Between Psychology And Psychiatry

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. 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. Therefore, psychiatric training does not necessarily encompass training in psychotherapy, and, unlike the training for many psychologists, 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 (Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed.D.) 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 particular psychologist trained in research should have acquired some solid skills useful for analyzing information and drawing conclusions in psychotherapy sessions.
Moreover, in addition to research training, the psychologist will have completed one or more clinical internships, and he or she will likely have been required to have experienced at least a year of personal psychotherapy.
Many psychologists also receive training in psychological testing.

What about Psychoanalysis?

Although the current practice of both psychiatry and psychology has been deeply influenced by the theories of psychoanalysis, all three practices have separate roots.
As explained above, psychiatry has its roots in medicine. Psychology has its roots in the academic study of animal and human perception, and in the early part of the 20th century it was first applied clinically as an aid to education.

Psychoanalysis, both a theory of mental functioning and a specific type of treatment philosophy, was developed by Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s. Freud, a physician and a professor of medicine, developed his theories about psychoanalysis while studying cases of hysteria and compulsion neurosis. The basic premise of psychoanalysis is that most psychological symptoms are the result of our unconsciously avoiding many of the unpleasant truths about ourselves. Through a detailed “psycho” analysis (i.e., analysis of our thought process and mental images) we come to learn just how we consistently manage to lie to and deceive ourselves. The idea behind this treatment philosophy is that persons who have come to understand their own deceptions can then manage to avoid being controlled by them.

(the above excerpt is taken from http://www.guidetopsychology.com/psypsy.htm)

Subspecialties Of Psychiatry

Various subspecialties and/or theoretical approaches exist which are related to the field of psychiatry. They include the following:

Biological psychiatry; an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological function of the nervous system.
Child and adolescent psychiatry; a branch of psychiatry that specialises in work with children, teenagers, and their families.
Community psychiatry; an approach that reflects an inclusive public health perspective and is practiced in community mental health services.[22]
Cross-cultural psychiatry; a branch of psychiatry concerned with the cultural and ethnic context of mental disorder and psychiatric services.
Emergency psychiatry; the clinical application of psychiatry in emergency settings.
Forensic psychiatry; the interface between law and psychiatry.
Geriatric psychiatry; a branch of psychiatry dealing with the study, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders in humans with old age.
Liaison psychiatry; the branch of psychiatry that specializes in the interface between other medical specialties and psychiatry.
Military psychiatry; covers special aspects of psychiatry and mental disorders within the military context.
Neuropsychiatry; branch of medicine dealing with mental disorders attributable to diseases of the nervous system.
Social psychiatry; a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the interpersonal and cultural context of mental disorder and mental wellbeing.

(the above except is taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatry)

Subspecialities Of Psychology

Psychology encompasses a vast domain, and includes many different approaches to the study of mental processes and behavior. Below are the major areas of inquiry that comprise psychology.

Abnormal psychology
Activity theory
Analytical psychology
Applied Behavior Analysis
Applied psychology
Asian Psychology
Behaviorism
Behavioral medicine
Biological psychology
Biopsychology
Cognitive neuropsychology
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive psychology
Community psychology
Comparative psychology
Clinical behavior analysis
Clinical psychology
Consumer psychology
Counselling psychology
Critical psychology
Developmental psychology
Discursive psychology
Distributed cognition
Ecological psychology

Educational psychology
Engineering psychology
Environmental psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Experimental psychology
Experimental analysis of behavior
Forensic psychology
Health psychology
Humanistic psychology
Individual differences psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology
Legal psychology
Medical psychology
Music psychology
Neuropsychology
Performance psychology
Personality psychology
Philippine Psychology
Physiological psychology
Political psychology
Popular psychology, self-help, and alternative therapy
Positive psychology

Pre- and perinatal psychology
Problem solving
Psychoanalysis
Psychohistory
Psychology and law
Psychology of religion
Psychometrics
Psychonomics
Psychopathology
Psychophysics
Psychophysiology
Psychotherapy
School psychology
Sensation and perception
Situated cognition
Social psychology
Sport psychology
Systems psychology
Theoretical psychology
Traffic psychology
Transpersonal psychology