As a BetterHelp affiliate, we may receive compensation from BetterHelp if you purchase products or services through the links provided.
Need to Talk to Someone?
For men, talking about problems can be challenging. Society discourages them from being in touch with their feelings. So, seeing a therapist might even be considered a brave act. The reason for this is that the stigma around men seeing a mental health professional is still quite prevalent. Men who seek treatment defy the norm. Everyone goes through life challenges including coping with relationships, divorce or losing a loved one, and talking to someone who is an expert in emotional health can be extremely helpful. That person would most likely be a therapist.
What’s Does a Therapist Do?
If you’re not familiar with mental health professionals, you might not know the difference between them. What’s the advantage of talking to a psychologist vs. a psychiatrist? A psychologist focuses mainly on talk therapy. Their experience is in treating clients who have mental illnesses, helping people cope with everyday life stressors, or assisting people who are going through traumatic times. Talking to a therapist can make you feel free. They’re not there to judge you, but rather help you get through tough times.
How Does a Psychiatrist Help?
A psychiatrist’s job is to manage medications for their clients. If you have a diagnosed mental illness such as Depression, Bipolar Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder (for example) a psychiatrist can prescribe medicine to treat that illness. They’re also responsible for monitoring the medication and its effect on you. Many times, prescriptions need to be adjusted depending on the patient’s symptoms. It’s important to be transparent with your psychiatrist about what you’re experiencing, including side effects so that they can change your medication accordingly. Generally speaking, medications work best when you are working with a therapist or therapist along with a psychiatrist.
What’s the Difference Between a Therapist and a Psychiatrist?
As mentioned earlier, a therapist treats behavioral issues, clients who have mental health issues such as depression or anxiety, or people who are struggling with particular life challenges. A psychiatrist doesn’t specialize in talk therapy, although they can integrate it into their practice. However, their specialty is administering and managing psychiatric medications. Psychiatrists are MDs, which means that they have been to medical school. Some therapists, including psychologists, have high levels of education, and have conducted scientific research, and obtained graduate degrees such as a PhDs or PsyD others do not. Some psychiatrists do both medication management and talk therapy. Seeing a provider that integrates both of these things could save a person time and might be less overwhelming, mainly if you are someone who needs their medications monitored frequently. It could make more sense to see a psychiatrist who also practices therapy in this instance.
Finding The Right Person to See
How do you know who to choose? It depends on what issues are. If you’re new to mental health treatment, it can be helpful to start with talk therapy. That means looking into seeing a therapist, therapist or a counselor. Once you’ve tried talk therapy, you can reassess if you need a higher level of treatment, which would include seeing a psychiatrist. For example, someone with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) might benefit from both therapy and medication. The medicine they’re taking can help to alleviate some of the obsessive thoughts and compulsions, calming their brain down enough to work on the OCD symptoms with CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) or Exposure Therapy. These are two types of treatments that are popular for treating OCD.
Do What Makes You Feel Good
Taking charge of your mental health is a beautiful thing. You are the master of your journey to getting well. You can decide whether you see a therapist, a psychiatrist or both. What matters most is that you’re getting better and you are the best judge of what makes you feel healthy and emotionally stable.