What Is A Psychiatrist For?

[Notsowild]

I have an appointment in March to see a psychiatrist. Besides diagnosing and medication what else is their role? Do they do any therapy?

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

A lot of psychiatrists don't really have time for true therapy. My new psychiatrist is more in depth then my previous ones and she normally asks me about more then just the basics of 'How are you?' and 'How is the medication?"

I see a psychologist has a pure mental health doctor and a psychiatrist as a psychical mental health doctor.

 

[WillyKat]

Psychiatrists generally don't get training on talk therapy. So some have some ability and others not so much. Psychologists get all sorts of training in talk therapy and can't prescribe. So if you get one that's personable and seems to care, you've doing pretty good.

 

[Abstract]

As Willykat said, most psychiatrists are not trained in counselling and usually have no interest in it and it seems often don't have any aptitude for it either. There are some that are not the most sensitive bunnies in the world. There are exceptions and some people do have counselling with a psychiatrist who is really good at it.

What most people see a psychiatrist for are three things: medication management related to mental health conditions; diagnoses and general plan development for treatment. Often not the last one either.

Think of them as dr's for the mind and you will be on the right track.

 

[franciemarnie]

I had one for twenty years who did both therapy and medication.

I had two that just did medication before the twenty year man.

 

[ms spock]

I didn't know that there were some countries where psychiatrists aren't trained in talk therapy. Mine is and she is part of a committee that organizes national conferences on a variety of issues. She is involved in continuing education for psychiatric issues. She is very good with the talk therapy, she sees it as crucial to the process.

I guess it depends on who you seeing.

She did say to me that if a psychiatrist is not so good with the talk therapy then they tend to rely on medication more.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

That's pretty much all---diagnosing and medication. If you need anything official for documentation purposes, most of the time it needs to come from a psychiatrist, so they also fulfill this need.

 

[Abstract]

Ms Spock, I may have stated that a little badly and am no expert but it is pretty unusual to find psychiatrists who do talk therapies with their patients here - once or twice weekly doesn't happen very often. A lot of them don't seem to have empathy skills either. There are some of course. I do suspect it varies from country to country. I think I remember that Germany insists their psychiatrists have a high level understanding of talk therapies before qualifying.

I am a little surprised about Australia though as I have an online friend in the profession over there and although I thought there were a percentage of psychiatrists doing talk therapy I was under the impression it wasn't really that common there either. It seems I was wrong.

 

[Seasounds]

I can add, that I looked for psychiatrists who do 50 minute visits, with every visit. The two providers i found do this because:

• They want to relate to, as well as see, hear, and experience their client, to access how well the medication, they are prescribing, is working.
• These psychiatrists are either relational and empathetic by nature and/or they are learning how to integrate psychotherapy skills into their practice.
• The psychiatrists believe that psychiatric medication, needs to be complemented with therapy-so they opt to do the therapy, themselves.

I ended up finding a psychiatrist who has a natural ability enjoy and support people. He is a big improvement over the last 3 psychologists I saw. His specialty is psychoanalysis; but the way he works with me is very relational oriented.

If you want an 'all in one' Provider, call around; these Providers are usually outside of hospitals.

 

[Hashi]

@Notsowild since it varies, isn't it a question of what the psychiatrist you'll be seeing is for? I'm not clear if you arranged it or were referred by someone else. What's the reason for having the appointment?

 

[Notsowild]

@Hashi... I was referred to him by my doctor. So I have never met him. I am seeing a Psychologist now but only for 6-8 sessions paid by my insurance company. And I don't know if that's enough sessions to help me cope with this disorder. So I was hoping he could help after my CBT sessions with the psychologist.

 

[catjudo]

It depends on the psychiatrist. In the United States most psychiatrists really only deal with med management but this is largely a situation that has been created by insurance companies. Insurance companies don't want to pay for longer therapy appointments with a psychiatrist when you can get therapy from a less expensive psychologist or therapist. There are psychiatrists who also do their own therapy but in my experience they usually don't accept insurance and the patient must pay private, out of pocket fees. Depending on your insurance plan, you may be able to submit receipts to the insurance company for partial reimbursement but it won't come close to what you actually paid.

The specific numbers escape me at the moment, but I recently read some studies that showed the alarmingly increasing number of psychiatrists who do not accept insurance for a variety of reasons. The percentage of psychiatrists who do no accept any form of insurance is higher than any other medical specialist.