Psychiatrist versus Psychologist

@silverspoon I’ve never seen a psychiatrist or psychologist, but have seen councillors. My first councillor I saw about 13 years ago after I lost my 9yo son in a car accident. I only attended a few sessions. She took lots of notes but always said my sons name wrong, even after I would correct her, she’d still say it wrong. (Like saying Kyle instead are Karl *not his real name). How can you take so many notes but not write the correct name??

The next councillor I saw was a bit of a stop-gap while my husband and I waited to get a real marriage councillor around 2 years ago when our marriage started to crumble. The straw that broke the camels back was that my husband took my SIL’s side in an argument we had the night my father died. This councillor we started with kept getting my name wrong and she’d call me by my SIL’s name - my faith in counciling was starting to get shaky about then.

A couple of months later we got the actual marriage councillor. He was really good. About a year ago I started seeing him one on one for CSA, (in between marriage counseling sessions) something I’d kept secret for 40years, and he was really helping me with that. I haven’t ever been “officially” diagnosed with anything, I don’t have a label so to speak - but he has said quite often that I have PTSD.

I had a lot of faith and a huge amount of trust in this man. About a month ago something happened in our family, I was made to be the fall guy and was terribly hurt by my husband and my son, so much so that I have since seperated from my husband. I was also terribly let down by my councillor- something he has now acknowledged and apologised through a couple of texts, but I have lost all trust in him.

I have ceased counciling with him, and feel like I’ve been burnt too many times to ever go to another councillor ever again. I keep hearing that their are some good ones out there, I thought I had one, but it seems I had it wrong. So for now, it’s back to keeping it all locked up inside.

@silverspoon hello a very interesting topic indeed. I would start by saying that as in most professions there are people who are good at their jobs and people who are not.

in my expeirence over all i have found psychologists to be better in general than the other professionals (i have seen psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and mental health nurses and counsellors) the social workers, nurses and councellors are probably the worst for me and psychiatrists are also mostly terrible and i find very uncaring except for about 2 i have met. as for psychologists it is hard to find a good one and most of them are bad but there are some rare gems that can be really great. i am probably biased but in my expeerience 90% of mental health workers suck and you just get lucky if you come accross someone in the 10% that doesnt.

but also it does really depend on what your issues are and i find if you go anywhere outside the relm of depression and anxiety then your chances of finding someone good become much slimmer.

and again this is just my personal opinion and experience.

@silverspoon Hey CKS I am like you and have had more luck with psychiatrists then psychologists. In fact I actively avoid psychologists now as I have found them to be micky mouse compared to my psychiatrist that I have now and others that I have had in the past.

Nice topic and discussion @silverspoon . I've enjoyed seeing you round on the forum.

I find phsychologists more helpful than psychiatrists. I had a real hard time communicating with the latter, but, I was in a fairly poor state at the time and didn't really understand what was going on.

I think like a lot of things it really comes down to chance.

Some people have better experiences with psychiatrists, others with psychologists. Psychologists generally have a more cognitive focused treatment style (likely due to them being unable to prescribe medication), whereas psychiatrist a lot of people find focus predominantly on medication.

Either way, it is unfortunate that they tried making your alcohol use out to be the underlying cause. Alcohol is far more likely to be used as a mechanism of coping with an underlying disorder. PTSD and alcohol use are highly correlated, and should have been a first thought for sure.

Hello...... this is my first posting.

Reading everyone's comments makes me feel that I am not alone in my opinions. Since I was in my early teens I have always struggled with depression. I am now 48. A few years ago, my thoughts were so dark, I made the decision to talk to my GP to get help. I was referred to a psychiatrist. It's an overwhelming experience to have to open up and tell all your dark secrets. I opened up but after the 4th visit, he left to go elsewhere, so I was alone. I saw no-one else for about a year - still struggling. My GP referred me to a psychologist to help me with my self-esteem, which he did somewhat - CBT/Mindfulness. But didn't help with the dark thoughts and I really wanted to talk about my years growing up because I went through experiences which I know was making me feel the way I was. He left after 8 visits. My GP referred a psychiatrist - talking over skype (he was interstate), but I was wary of opening up again. He stayed with me for about 2 years but I found I would only tell him things that he wanted to hear. He only talked about the now even though I was trying to tell me about my past. I was put on so many medications (started one, then stopped, tried something else on so on). He told me to also see a psychologist which I did, but after the first session with her, I never returned. I confused her with my answers - would say one thing and then another (but my thoughts were not making sense to me) and she implied that because I was getting the first 10 sessions for free (medicare) that I should be grateful to see someone. I was so angry (another one of my traits that I struggle with). So I made the decision to stop seeing her, my psychiatrist and come off all my medications. With guidance from my GP, I slowly came off all of them, although after about 5 months, I couldn't function in the world so I went back on one of them but at half the dose. It's been 7 months. I live in a country town (not many resources here), finding someone you can trust - psychiatrist and psychologist is so difficult but when you do, be honest with them and yourself.

Hi @Rainbow7 @silverspoon @Meterpreter @Gazza75 @Bunniekins and welcome to the forums those of you who are new.

I know that for myself I need both. They work in completely different ways. The psychiatrist for meds to keep my bipolar 1 relatively stable and the psychologist for therapy for complex PTSD due to a lifelong trauma history (I'm 56) and various phobias and anxiety and depression ... (CBT, DBT, EMDR and making strategies to deal with triggers and much more). I am lucky to have both I guess but it is a struggle financially sometimes. Much easier once I reach the medicare threshold each year. I am on a DSP but believe investing in my health is an important priority. I also fought for NDIS for 1 1/2 years and was eventually accepted (long story on the "Anyone started with the NDIS?" thread). So that now covers me for significantly more psychology per year.

What makes a big difference compared to a long history of many other psychologists and a few other psychiatrists is that the ones I see now communicate with each other and both have significant trauma training. I think that's an ideal situation and worth searching for. I know I'm much more stable and making a lot more progress in therapy than ever before. My psychologist says she will work herself out of a job ... I will reach a point in my recovery where I will manage without her. She gives me hope.