A mental health professional with a PhD or Psy.D in psychology is basically known as a psychologist. The training and education includes six year graduate degree in therapeutic treatment of the emotional problems, human behavior, psychological test administration and construction, statistical analysis of data, experimental research, and clinical internship.
The individuals studying clinical psychology have to go through a rigorous training in techniques and theories of psychotherapy. Of all health care professionals, only psychologists can report and administer the outcomes of the psychological tests.
The difference between psychiatrist and psychologists mainly are in terms of their qualification and area of practice. Psychiatrists are the medical doctors (M.D.s) whose education and training includes at least 4 years of extra clinical training and medical school. Due to the medical training, they are able to bring an understanding of emotional and medical issues into their practice. They posses deep knowledge of medication and its effects and use it during the treatment of patient. Among all mental health care professionals, psychiatrists are only able to evaluate patients for a particular medication and can prescribe drugs. Read the rest of this entry »

