2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43
Recently I was once again asked who is a psychotherapist and a psychologist is a doctor or not?
And I also heard a very strange story, how a psychologist prescribed medications, and the patient "turned into a vegetable." I will leave the authenticity of this story on the conscience of the narrator. I hope that after reading my article, you will learn to distinguish a psychotherapist from a psychologist, and such horror stories about psychologists will be doubtful for you.
To begin with, we have an amazing and unique country. With us, you can become a psychotherapist in 4 months. Of course, not everyone can become a psychotherapist so easily. Only a psychiatrist, having completed such courses, receives a certificate of a psychotherapist. In these courses, he receives a basic knowledge of psychotherapy. Many specialists limit themselves to this, the certificate has a validity period, and the doctor receives a new one after the next courses. But there are other specialists who go through lengthy educational programs, fortunately, there are also quite a few of them.
The psychotherapist has an advantage, he will not miss what needs to be treated not only with psychotherapy, he is guided in psychopathology, and will not miss the situation when the patient needs pharmacotherapy. However, there is a risk that the doctor will immediately give preference to drug therapy. This can be effective as long as the course of the medication is not over. But, unfortunately, eliminating symptoms does not always eliminate the problem with which the patient turned to a specialist.
Competent and responsible psychologists, as a rule, work in contact with a psychiatrist in order to recommend their client to contact him, if necessary. Referral to a psychiatrist usually scares a person, but the fact of referral does not mean mandatory registration and any restriction in rights.
A clinical psychologist does not make diagnoses, does not prescribe treatment (remember the horror story I told at the beginning), but he knows how to distinguish the norm from pathology, owns various types of diagnostics, and will always determine where his competence ends, and his work with the client can continue only after consulting a psychiatrist. I would like to note that turning to a psychiatrist does not mean stopping work with a psychologist, a clinical psychologist knows how to work with both the norm and pathology, knows pharmacotherapy and corrects his work, taking into account the condition of his client.
The paradox of our legislation is that psychologists are specialists with a higher psychological education, who have serious training, and this is not only a university program, but additional training in one or several modalities of psychotherapy, formally cannot be considered psychotherapists. In practice, their activity is called psychocorrection, probably in order to maintain subordination with psychotherapists.
This confusion adds a lot of anxiety to those who need psychotherapeutic help. Is a specialist who calls himself a psychotherapist really not nominally?
My colleagues and I hope that changes in this area of helping people will still take place, and will be rational and competent.
And I also hope that it was not in vain that I wrote this article, it helped you understand this difficult question of who a psychotherapist is, and what is its difference from a psychologist.
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