Addiction Counseling and Psychiatrist Vs Therapist

Working with the right medical professionals during addiction recovery is crucial. While a psychiatrist and a therapist can sound helpful before you enter treatment, they will provide you with different support options and tools throughout your recovery. You may need the help of both professionals as you recover, or you might only need one. Understanding the differences between a psychiatrist vs therapist can help you determine whose help you’ll need during addiction treatment.

The Job Differences Between A Psychiatrist Vs Therapist

Patients who need psychiatric medication during treatment will need to get it from a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are medical doctors trained to understand addiction and mental illnesses that can arise before, during, or after substance abuse starts. Their knowledge helps them determine what medications to prescribe, how long you should take them, and how they’re supposed to help you recover. Although patients talk with psychiatrists, their conversations usually focus on diagnosing medical conditions and how prescribed medications are working, such as during a medically assisted detox program where withdrawal symptoms are managed with prescribed medicines.

Therapists, on the other hand, are not medical doctors and therefore do not prescribe medication to patients no matter what symptoms arise during treatment. Their job is to help patients through past, current, and future problems by talking with them and others involved in their therapy. They help patients understand where their addiction started, identify triggering stimuli, and learn healthier coping mechanisms. Therapists employ many proven, evidence-based treatments, and they may include:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
• 12-step facilitation therapy
• Motivational interviewing
• Family therapy
• Eye movement desensitization and processing (EMDP) therapy

These tools and others help their patients stay sober during and after treatment. Almost all treatment options focus on changing the way a patient thinks, which leads to changes in behaviors, but they achieve this through different methods. Finding the right therapeutic approach that works for you is essential for recovery. It will allow you to recognize situations that were problematic in the past and change how you think, behave, and emotionally respond to them.

Psychiatrist Vs Therapist – Whose Help Will You Need?

Because psychiatrists and therapists help patients in different ways, it can be difficult to know who to turn to during treatment. If you’re not sure how drugs or alcohol have affected your brain or why you started substance abuse, to begin with, that choice is even harder.

If you’re not sure whether or not you need medication, meet with a therapist first. Although they can’t prescribe medication, they may be able to identify symptoms and signs of addiction. A therapist or counselor can help determine if a psychiatrist is right for you. Regardless of the choice, you’ll still be able to meet and talk with the therapist. They will lead the discussion about other issues involved in your addiction.

If a mental illness has developed over the course of your addiction or you were diagnosed with a mental illness before you started using it, meeting with a psychiatrist during treatment is important. The symptoms involved with any mental illness can make the recovery process a lot more challenging. Using medications to help with symptoms can help clear your mind and keep you focused on your recovery.

Enter Treatment That Helps You Decide Between A Psychiatrist Vs Therapist

You don’t have to decide who to turn to during addiction treatment on your own. Beaches Recovery has staff familiar with addiction which can help you determine what addiction treatment programs will be best for you.

Don’t let your uncertainty keep you from sobriety. Call Beaches Recovery today. Let our expert addiction therapy programs do their work of helping you heal. The number is 866.605.0532.