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What is it like to be a psychiatrist?

Generally, how is the psychiatry industry in your opinion?

mental-health psychiatry
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Judith-Ann’s Answer

When speaking of the psychiatry industry, there are generally many levels of care to be included: 1)A psychiatrist is an MD graduated with the full level of doctorships. Psychaitrists can prescribe meds as well as serve as talk therapist. 2) Pscyhologist is a Doctorate degreed in Psychology. Psychologists administer testing and provide therapy as well. 3) Licensed Professional Counselors are Master Degreed in Psychology or Counseling Education. These therapists are will versed in talk therapy and can be certified in many specialties like anxiety, grief, PTSD, etc. 4) Social Workers can obtain an MSW in Counseling and become talk therapists, as well. Social Work degrees also can work in admin type positions, as well as become social workers. 5) Guidance Counselors are also obtain masters degrees and work in schools to provide students guidance to careers and talk over problems. All of the above credentials can have private practices or work in treatment facilities.
The psychiatry industry which includes all of the above positions is becoming more recognized today and more people are admitting when they are in therapy. Most patients admit that therapy is very helpful.
I, personally, am a Licensed Professional Counselor and I am so happy to be in this profession. I feel like it is a calling and it gives me great satisfaction in fulfilling a purpose. I believe that being there for a person who needs a listener, a coach, a champion, or unconditional regard is the greatest occupation ever.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in this field, a good step would be to talk to your guidance counselor for more occupational information. Follow that up with finding someone in the field that you could ask more questions. Good luck on your journey. It's a wonderful occupation!
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Nancy’s Answer

Ayden,
I assume you’re asking about being a psychiatrist. Yes, you have to get your medical degree and do residency in psychiatry. You may pursue a fellowship for more training after that.

Then you will either work in an inpatient psychiatric facility seeing patients and supervising care, or in an outpatient setting doing psychiatric evaluations and monitoring patients’ medications. The way insurance works you will be reimbursed the most for these things. Or, you can open a private practice and also provide psychotherapy. You may get less per hour for that from medical insurance companies, or you can choose to accept only patients that pay out of pocket. You see quite a few patients in a day. Sometimes you have to handle patient emergencies and commit patients to a psychiatric hospital.

What is rewarding, I believe, is helping patients experience reduced symptoms by correctly diagnosing them and prescribing appropriate medication. This can be very life-changing for people’s mental health. As a clinical counselor myself, I rely on psychiatrists to handle the medications for my clients while I provide the psychotherapy. Any job in this field requires excellent people skills and a high degree of ethics.

Nancy recommends the following next steps:

Try to have an informational interview with a psychiatrist to ask about their job.
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