Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Social Worker: Difference?

What’s the difference between a psychologist, psychiatrist and a social worker?

A psychologist tends to focus on individual functioning; how a person processes information, copes on an individual basis, deals with issues in their life from a personal perspective. Counseling may be directed to facilitating that individual’s coping skills or understanding of their situation on a deeper level.

A psychiatrist focuses on health and biological issues that can give rise to problems of functioning. Their expertise is very much directed towards the use of medications to address overwhelming feelings or difficulties related to maintaining reality. They are medical doctors with this additional training. Rarely does the modern day psychiatrist provide direct and ongoing counseling.

The social worker looks at the problem of the individual in a broader context, such as one’s relationship, family, community, society. Counseling may be directed at facilitating change or adjustments in relationships that contribute to an individual’s distress.

Case example.

The teen has anxiety:

The psychiatrist prescribed medication.

The psychologist provided cognitive behavior therapy to facilitate improved information processing of their internal experience and improved coping strategies.

The social worker met with the teen and parents to address relationship issues that gave rise to upset and worries for the teen.

Each intervention may be applied singularly or in combinations with others.

Depending on what may be considered the major contributory issues to the teens anxiety, one approach may be more appropriate than another.

Figuring out what may be best in any particular situation can be determined by a team approach, where hopefully the three kinds of clinicians can collaborate.

Where a team is not available, hopefully any of those clinicians can take a bio-psycho-social approach to their assessment and offer referral to the other services if considered necessary or helpful.

---

Are you following me on Facebook yet? If not, you are missing many more posts!

I am Gary Direnfeld and I am a social worker. Check out all my services and then call me if you need help with a personal issue, mental health concern, child behavior or relationship, divorce or separation issue or even help growing your practice. I am available in person and by video conferencing.

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW

gary@yoursocialworker.com
www.yoursocialworker.com for counseling and support

www.garydirenfeld.com – to build your successful practice

Gary Direnfeld is a social worker. Courts in Ontario, Canada, consider him an expert in social work, marital and family therapy, child development, parent-child relations and custody and access matters. Gary is the host of the TV reality show, Newlywed, Nearly Dead, former parenting columnist for the Hamilton Spectator and author of Marriage Rescue: Overcoming the ten deadly sins in failing relationships. Gary maintains a private practice in Georgina Ontario, providing a range of services for people in distress. He speaks at conferences and workshops throughout North America. He consults to mental health professionals as well as to mediators and collaborative law professionals about good practice as well as building their practice.