Choosing a Counsellor: Differences Between a Psychotherapist, Psychologist and a Psychiatrist

Choosing a Counsellor: Differences Between a Psychotherapist, Psychologist and a Psychiatrist

Well done! You’ve taken a significant step in finding the right kind of support that meets your needs. You may have heard that the most challenging part in getting help is accepting that you need it. The other tricky part is finding out what kind of help you need. Often people in our community don’t know what to look for. The good news? There are many choices for people to explore, from community organizations to psychiatrists. In this article, you’ll be able to learn the differences between psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists and then use this new knowledge to find the help you feel is right for you.

When life stressors become overwhelming, often people find that counselling provides guidance, support and hope for the future. If this is what you’re looking for, then a psychotherapist would be an excellent option for you.

What Psychotherapists do:

• Assess and treat emotional, mental or behavioural issues people may be experiencing.
• Treat issues such as depression, family stress, marital conflict, grief or several other issues.
• They can be found in both community organizations or private counselling practices.

What are the benefits?

• Able to treat people who are struggling and may or may not already have a diagnosis.
• People can self-refer themselves to a psychotherapist.
• Psychotherapists often have lower fees than psychologists.
• Psychotherapist fees may be covered by employer benefit plans – be sure to double-check your plan!
• Wait times for first appointments are usually reasonable, especially in private counselling practices.
• One more thing to note is that social workers, registered counsellors or therapists also have a similar description of how they practice – just a different title depending on what education they gained and the professional college they are registered with.

If you don’t have a diagnosis of your mental health issues and would like one and counselling, then a psychologist might be right for you.

What Psychologists do:

• Depending on the psychologist and their position within the organization, they can provide assessment, psychological testing, diagnosis and treatment/counselling of mental health issues.
• They can also help with issues similar to what is listed above for psychotherapists.
• They can be found in community organizations, hospitals or private counselling practices.

What are the benefits?

• Can meet your needs for a diagnosis, psychological testing and counselling all within one practitioner.
• People can self-refer themselves to a psychologist.
• Although fees can be much higher than a psychotherapist’s, they too can be covered by employer benefit plans – remember to double-check your plan! Consider if you don’t have coverage, but you’d like to get a diagnosis. You can do that with a psychologist (or psychiatrist – see below) and then continue counselling/treatment with a psychotherapist/counsellor/social worker who may have lower fees.
• Depending on where you see your psychologist (hospital, community organization or private practice), wait times for your first appointment can be very brief or lengthier.

But what if you are taking medication to help with your mental health symptoms but realize you want some expert support with this? Psychiatrists are health practitioners that can help with this. Family doctors can also be helpful, but some people find the support of a specialized expert can be beneficial.

What Psychiatrists do:

• Because psychiatrists are medical doctors with specialized mental health training, they primarily support their clients using medication rather than counselling. However, some can do counselling as well.

What are the benefits?

Appointment times with your psychiatrist are more brief and infrequent than a counselling session and usually do not include therapy or counselling. This type of support might be right for you if you are currently on medications for mental health support (anti-depressant medication, for example) or if you would like to explore how medication can help you with your mental health issue.

They are primarily found in local hospitals and require a referral from your family doctor. So your first place to start is asking your family doctor for this referral.

Psychiatrist appointment fees are covered by OHIP! Double-check if your employer provides benefits that may cover some medication prescriptions that follow these appointments.

Keep in mind that wait times to see a psychiatrist for the first time can be a few weeks to a few months because they are a public health service.