Psychologist vs. Psychiatrist

    So, I was talking to some acquaintances today about My schooling.  The typical question came into play after only a few moments 'What's the difference in a psychologist and a psychiatrist?'.   I thought I'd explain it to you a bit here today and tell you what it is ultimately that I want to do when I grow up... (haha yes because I'm still a young 'un who hasn't grown up yet)
      
    For starters the education level is completely different.  A psychiatrist has a degree in medicine where a psychologist has a doctoral-level degree in psychology.  

    Psychologists receive graduate training in psychology and pursue either a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) or Psy.D. (Doctor of Psychology) in clinical or counseling psychology. Doctorate programs generally take five to seven years to complete and most states require an additional one or two year long internship in order to gain licensure. Other states require an additional year or two of supervised practice before granting full licensure. (thank God Michigan isn't one that requires an additional two years)   The title of "psychologist" can only be used by an individual who has completed that education, training, and state licensure.

     Psychiatrists are physicians that have specific training in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses. In order to become a psychiatrist, students first earn an undergraduate degree before they attend medical school and receive an M.D. After finishing their medical training, they also complete an additional four years of residency training in mental health. Some also receive additional training in a specific area of interest such as geriatric psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, addictions, and other areas.

     Informal titles such as "counselor" or "therapist" are often used in place of psychologist or psychiatrist.

      A second important distinction between the two careers is that psychiatrists can prescribe medications, while in most states psychologists cannot. However, there has been a recent push to grant prescribing powers to psychologists. Some states such as New Mexico and Louisiana now grant prescribing privileges to medical psychologists holding a post-doctoral masters degree or equivalent in clinical psycho-pharmacology (study of the effect that drugs have on one's moods, sensations, thinking, and behavior).

       I Myself am interested in conducting psychotherapy, administering psychological tests, and conducting research? Which is why a career as a psychologist is the best choice for Me.  I don't want to prescribe medicine, I want to study people.  I want to study, analyze, and learn how the brain works in individuals. How our psyche moves us and drives us.  As a student I get to do that, actually to be honest, I've been able to psychoanalyze people since I was in High School...  I just tend to be able to read people and have seen enough, been through enough, that I have learned to connect the dots.  Connecting the dots is where My fun is, sharing with others those realizations of their psyche is where My heart is.   I get a thrill, a rush, when I watch someone 'flip the switch' as I explain to them what they do and why they do it.... they have that aha moment. 

      I love the aha moments, these moments in life define us as a person.  We all have them.  What we choose to do with them shows our character.  For example:  I counseled a girl about five years ago who had a string of relationships (she was only 18 and already had many many partners that never seemed to last more than a few months at most).  After talking with her for a few weeks I learned a few things... and shared them with her.   She was afraid to let anything last longer than a few months, not that she didn't like these boys or that she was 'bored' with them as she put it but that she was genuinely afraid  (deep seeded fear) of rejection... so instead of waiting for them to find fault in her she would find fault in them and move on hoping the next she could love enough to not be afraid.  
Her fear of rejection came from never feeling 'good enough' for her mother.  She never felt approval or acceptance for anything.  Not the way she looked, carried herself, worked, or behaved.  So she wouldn't let men in close enough to fall in love with them.  (blah blah blah.. could go on forever explaining but you get the point).   As I sat talking to her about this our maybe fifth or sixth time meeting I could see her clearly identifying with what I was saying.  Over the next few weeks and months we talked about how to work through that fear and conquer it.  Unfortunately, however, she didn't take My advice and as far as I know today still has the same problem.  Another girl I counseled however, saw the aha moment for herself in why she felt the need to 'cut' and simply the realization of why helped her to start to overcome the need for it.  It showed her the underlying cause and we worked on that instead of just the symptoms.... within two months she was no longer cutting at all and instead finding healthy outlets to channel her frustration, fear, and depression.  

       I don't want to 'diagnose' people, to sit and listen to them whine, complain, and belittle themselves... hand them a pill, and do it again next week.  I don't want to be a psychiatrist.  To be completely honest... psychiatrists are a bunch of bullshitters in My opinion.  They KNOW that simply listening will only bring the patient back again and again, lining their pockets with money.

       No, I want to expand a person's thought process... to help them see that 'aha' moment and then help them adjust if they so choose to.  We are amazing, you and I.... humans are absolutely complex creatures who's minds are more vast than a thousand universes.  Yet we only use a portion of that mind and we know even less about that small portion we use than we do the universe.   Connecting the dots is truly where I love to be.  Perhaps that's one of the biggest reasons I love being a Mistress.  I have to KNOW you on a level that far surpasses that of the average person.  I have to study you, to observe you, to learn you all the time.  I constantly must connect the dots of your life and then expand them by expanding your experiences, thoughts, and understanding.  To help you understand yourself and the world around you in a deep way.