the new (now old) psychiatry

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/health/policy/06doctors.html

Talk Doesn’t Pay, So Psychiatry Turns Instead to Drug Therapy

“I had to train myself not to get too interested in their problems, and not to get sidetracked trying to be a semi-therapist.” DR. DONALD LEVIN, a psychiatrist whose practice no longer includes talk therapy.

Psychiatry, by definition, is about medications. Psychology is about talk therapy.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Psychiatry, by definition, is about medications. Psychology is about talk therapy.

no.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy

Originally posted by zeeblebot
no.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy, or personal counseling with a psychotherapist, is an intentional interpersonal relationship used by trained psychotherapists to aid a client or patient in problems of living.

It is a talking therapy and aims to increase the individual's sense of their own well-being. Psychotherapists employ a range of techniques based on experiential relationship building, dialogue, communication and behavior change that are designed to improve the mental health of a client or patient, or to improve group relationships (such as in a family).

Psychotherapy may also be performed by practitioners with a number of different qualifications, including psychiatry, clinical psychology, clinical social work, counseling psychology, mental health counseling, clinical or psychiatric social work, marriage and family therapy, rehabilitation counseling, music therapy, art therapy, drama therapy, dance/movement therapy occupational therapy, psychiatric nursing, psychoanalysis and those from other psychotherapies. It may be legally regulated, voluntarily regulated or unregulated, depending on the jurisdiction. Requirements of these professions vary, but often require graduate school and supervised clinical experience. Psychotherapy in Europe is increasingly being seen as an independent profession, rather than being restricted to being practiced only by psychologists and psychiatrists as is stipulated in some countries).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatry

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders—which include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual disorders. The term was first coined by the German physician Johann Christian Reil in 1808. It literally means the 'medical treatment of the mind' (psych-: mind; -iatry: medical treatment; from Greek iātrikos: medical, iāsthai: to heal). A medical doctor specializing in psychiatry is a psychiatrist.

...

Psychiatric treatment applies a variety of modalities, including medication, psychotherapy and a wide range of other techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation.

maybe you're confused because psychologists typically cannot prescribe medicines because they are not MD's, whereas psychiatrists can.

it doesn't mean psychiatrists don't perform talk therapy.

just see the history of Dr. Levin in the article.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Psychiatry, by definition, is about medications. Psychology is about talk therapy.

I'm going argue semantics and say that's inaccurate, or incomplete at best.

Certainly, psychiatrists, as medical doctors, as distinguished from psychologists who are not, by definition employ medicine as a treatment for mental diseases, but medicine is certainly not always the primary means of treatment.

Originally posted by zeeblebot
Talk Doesn’t Pay, So Psychiatry Turns Instead to Drug Therapy

That's really a shame, and a distortion of effective psychiatry.

The article also didn't seem to address psychiatrists in the public sector, either. Especially in the face of state and federal budget cuts, and in the context of a society (and government) that often doesn't appreciate the true seriousness and importance of providing psychiatric care, public sector psychiatrists have even bigger worries.

Originally posted by wittywonka
I'm going argue semantics and say that's inaccurate, or incomplete at best.

Certainly, psychiatrists, as medical doctors, as distinguished from psychologists who are not, by definition employ medicine as a treatment for mental diseases, but medicine is certainly not always the primary means of treatment.

When you need psychotherapy you go to a psychotherapist, not a psychiatrist. While psychiatrists can and do psychotherapy it's a waste of their time and advanced psychiatric educations. There are lots of psychotherapists.

When you are psychotic and need meds you go to a psychiatrist.

Psychiatrists also differ from psychologists in that they are physicians and the entirety of their post-graduate training is revolved around the field of medicine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatry#Theory_and_focus