Psychologist vs. Psychotherapist 

"Psychologist" vs. "Psychotherapist" in English

What Is Their Main Difference?

Both refer to professionally-trained doctors with the intention of improving one's mental health. However, a 'psychotherapist' uses talking as a method to help clients express their emotions and deal with their traumas, whereas, a 'psychologist' is a professional mental health doctor that studies human emotions, behaviors, etc. and analyzes them through a scientific lens.

Differences

As mentioned above, a 'psychologist' is a professional mental health doctor that analyzes human emotions, behaviors, motifs from a scientific point of view. Look at the examples below:

Example

Psychologists use various methods to deal with human emotions.

You are a licensed psychologist. You are expected to be more understanding towards the clients' needs.

A 'psychotherapist' is a highly-trained mental health doctor that uses talking therapy to help the client solve their emotional and psychological problems. Take a look at the examples below:

Example

Is Mariah Johnson a psychotherapist?

I'm not sure whether Sigmund Freud was the first psychotherapist or psychoanalyst.

Similarities

As stated above, both are licensed doctors with the goal of helping one's mental health improve. Also, note that neither are allowed to prescribe medication. Look at the examples below:

Example

Here is a list of all the certified psychologists provided by the Mental Health Organization.

All psychotherapists are expected attend the meetings.

Are They Interchangeable?

Although both refer to highly-trained mental health doctors, they cannot be used interchangeably because a 'psychotherapist' mainly uses talking therapy, whereas, a 'psychologist' studies human behaviors. Both examples are correct but they refer to different groups of people. Compare:

Example

✓ One of the important characteristics of a psychologist is to be understanding.

✓ One of the important characteristics of a psychotherapist is to be understanding.

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