If you are struggling with a problem, you have at least three main options to choose from in terms of who you can see for help. You can see a psychotherapist, a psychologist or a psychiatrist. The differences between these mental health professionals is outlined below.
1) Psychotherapist/Therapist/Counselor:
These terms are more or less synonymous.
There are many kinds of psychotherapists/counselors, depending on their theoretical orientation, i.e. cognitive behavioural therapists, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, gestalt therapists, behaviour therapists, etc. Which orientation you choose as your own therapist depends on your personal preference. You can research the different types of therapy, or meet with a therapist to assess the fit between you and this person.
A good fit with your therapist, or liking this person and trusting in their capacities, has been shown to be more important to the outcome or effectiveness of the therapy, than the specific type of therapy that they practice.
The psychoanalytic orientation which I belong to (more specifically the orientation of relational psychoanalytic psychotherapy) views the reasons for behaviour as very complex and multiply determined. There are deep-seated reasons for why we do things that are often quite resistant to change through conventional means. We often can not change just because we want to, or just because we can see that our behaviour is self defeating or damaging to others. Change can usually not occur without professional assistance. Understanding the problem intellectually is not enough (if it was, we could change our behaviour by reading self-help books, which rarely works!).
The psychoanalytic tradition seeks to develop mutual and collaborative understanding with the patient of the specified problem, through the therapist’s empathic, listening stance and capacity to be with the other person in their suffering. A therapeutic relationship may develop that the patients finds to be unconditionally supportive and useful in a way that they had not experienced before. The patient's difficulties are often brought into the room and understood in this new context. The psychoanalytic therapist makes interpretions, or evidence-based, educated guesses about what the patient presents, and understanding progresses through the collaborative negotiation of these ideas. With this said, what therapy is and how it works can be difficult to grasp without personal experience. Therefore, trying a few sessions with a therapist is the best way to know what therapy is.
Psychotherapists have usually attended a specialized psychotherapy training program that educates them in one specific orientation. For example, I attend the Toronto Child Psychoanalytic Program, which makes me a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. Especially in the psychoanalytic orientation, this training is extremely rigorous, with multiple training cases, extensive supervision, and a personal psychotherapy. Psychotherapists may have multiple university degrees in related fields of study in addition to their training in psychotherapy. Psychotherapists can also be psychologists or psychiatrists.
Some psychotherapists (i.e. psychoanalytic psychotherapists) are required to undergo their own, personal psychotherapy, multiple times per week for several years, as part of their training requirement. This is to ensure that the therapist is emotionally stable and appropriately insightful about their own psychological functioning, in order to begin to understand the problems of one’s patients and assist them through their therapy.
The personal therapy part of the training of a mental health professional is perhaps one of the most significant and necessary parts of learning how to be a therapist to others. Psychologists and psychiatrists are not required to be in therapy before they begin to be a therapist. However, these professionals may have undergone a psychoanalytic training in addition to their university training.
Psychotherapists are not currently covered by OHIP or by insurance plans (however, clients of the Willow Centre where I am employed do qualify for coverage).
Psychotherapists do not prescribe medication.
2) Psychologist:
A psychologist has a Ph.D in psychology from a university. Ph.D stands for "doctor of philosophy", which can be defined as extensive and specialized knowledge in one area of study, in this case psychology.
Those with a degree in counseling psychology are trained to conduct therapy, and those who specialized or developed a specific interest in child psychology are perhaps most qualified among psychologists to conduct therapy with children and teens.
In addition to therapy, psychologists are well known to perform various psychological and psycho-educational tests and write diagnosis-specific reports for schools, which may be required to receive special services in this environment. These tests are performed at the Willow Centre - a referral can be made through me in place of, or in addition to, psychotherapy as the chosen treatment.
Psychologists are not required to be in therapy themselves as part of their training requirement, and they may or may not have received special training in psychotherapy in addition to their Ph.D, i.e. a two or four year psychotherapy training program.
Psychologists may or may not be "registered." Only registered psychologists, or clinics like the Willow Centre where I work, which functions under the supervision of a registered psychologist, are eligible under your or your partner’s insurance plan at your/his place of employment.
Psychologists do not prescribe medication.
3) Psychiatrist:
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who attended medical school and specialized in psychiatry.
Psychiatrists are covered by OHIP.
A psychiatrist is the only mental health profession who is qualified to prescribe medication, and many psychiatrists prescribe medication and perform therapeutic and/or medication consultations for purposes of reaching a psychiatric diagnosis, without doing long-term psychotherapy.
Psychiatrists are not required to be in therapy themselves as part of their training requirement, and they may or may not have received special training in psychotherapy in addition to their medical degree.
Some psychiatrists conduct longer-term psychotherapy.
