How would seeing a psychologist be different from seeing a psychiatrist?

Psychiatrists are MD: After graduating college & graduating a 4 years medical school, one obtains a md degree.Psychiatry is subspecialty of medicine. The md completes another 4 years in a psychiatric training program. A psychologist is not a md, gets postgraduate degrees from univerisity & become specialized with important skills. Psychiatrists & psychologists should work together but are in conflict. What a shame.

The way it works: Psychiatrists that do medication management will need history and symptom information to treat you. Generally you will be seen you for a longer initial session and shorter monthly or bimonthly follow-on sessions. Psychologists will generally see you once a week to help you change or implement new behaviors; and assist you in reviewing how you see your life and how you respond to its challenges.

May be similar: There are wide variations in the way both psychiatrists and psychologists practice. More medically oriented psychiatrists may aim toward a diagnosis & treat mainly with medications. But some psychiatrists are mainly therapists or even psychoanalysts. Many psychologists do therapy of various sorts, but some do psychological testing too. It really depends on the specific doctors involved.

Therapy vs meds: Speaking very generally, most psychologists hold either a PhD or a PsyD degree (I hold both) and practice psychotherapy. Psychiatrists hold either an MD or a DO degree, and they prescribe psychotropic medications, and generally do not do all that much therapy these days, but years ago psychiatrists would do both.