In the field of mental health it is important to understand the difference between a psychologist and a psychotherapist.
During my professional experience, I have noticed that there is some confusion when it comes to psychology and psychotherapy. People often have difficulty understanding the difference between a psychologist and a psychotherapist.
For this reason I decided to write this article with the aim of explaining and highlighting the different fields of application of psychology and psychotherapy.
Let’s start from the basic assumption that both professions share the same purpose: to promote psychological well-being. However, the methods and areas of action vary.
Psychologists are concerned with studying and understanding of human behaviour, emotions, thoughts and relationships. They can work in different areas, not only to help those with emotional difficulties, but also to improve aspects of daily life. For example, they can work in the following areas:
- Education: to help children and young people develop academic and social skills.
- Workplace: promoting well-being in the organisation and stress management.
- Sport: improving the motivation and concentration of athletes.
- Research: studying human behaviour to create new intervention techniques.
- Clinical: provides consultations, diagnoses and guidance. However, if the mental health professionals do not have specialisation in psychotherapy they cannot therapeutically intervene on mental disorders or traumas.
On the other hand, a psychotherapist is a psychologist or doctor who has decided to specialise in the clinical field to treat psychological disorders.
A psychotherapist goes beyond understanding a disorder and works in a structured way on difficulties such as anxiety, depression, trauma or relationship difficulties through the use of specific therapeutic techniques, such as Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Psychoanalysis, Transactional Analysis, EMDR, Family Therapy, among others.
Therefore, we can consider psychotherapy a specialisation of clinical psychology and psychiatry in which the objective is to work with the client so that they can solve their difficulties through healing and transformation treatments.
Let’s imagine that lately you have noticed difficulties sleeping, during the day you tend to be nervous and have little desire to interact with other people. If you go to a psychologist, you could explore how long you have been feeling this way, the thoughts and emotions that are activated at certain times, and you could work on some strategies to “manage” the experiences you are living in your present. However, if you contact a psychotherapist, after a stage of exploration of the symptoms, identical to the one I have just described, you would begin to work on finding the past causes that keep the symptoms present in order to cure and transform them.
In conclusion, both a psychologist and a psychotherapist are at your service in case of need. With a psychologist you can understand what is happening in your present and can help you orient yourself. On the other hand, a psychotherapist accompanies you on a journey of exploration and healing of deep wounds that keep the difficulty present.