Psych NP vs. Psychologist...What's the diff?

[SarasotaRN2b]

i was just curious about what the differences are between being a psych np or a psychologist. np's can prescribe meds and do psychotherapy...what more can a psychologist do vs. a np?

thanks in advance,

kris

[hypnotic_nurse]

I'd see a psychologist if I wanted a specific kind of therapy, such as behavioral therapy or play therapy, or a specialized kind of test such as Stanford Binet or Wechsler.

If I wanted meds and talk therapy, I'd see an NP. If I wanted strictly talk therapy, I might consider an LPC.

[danu3]

i was just curious about what the differences are between being a psych np or a psychologist. np's can prescribe meds and do psychotherapy...what more can a psychologist do vs. a np?

thanks in advance,

kris

there are things that psychologist can do that a psych np cannot do like running certain kind of psychological tests. there are things that psychologist can't do that a psych np can do. for instant, if you have schizophrenia, diabetes, and some kind of heart disease, a psych np can treat all three conditions while a psychologist would not be able and will have to refer to a family doc or something like that. also a psychologist would not be looking for other medical conditions like diabetes.

there are overlaps between psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, and psych nps, but they all have different skill set.

take a look at the description of psych np at ucsf at

http://nurseweb.ucsf.edu/www/spec-psy.htm

also take a look at the american pscyh nurse assoication also

http://www.apna.org/faq/aboutnursing.html

-dan

[spaniel]

In NY State and others, a licensed psychologist is fully indepedent. There is no need to have a collaborating agreement with an M.D. (Certainly any wise practitioner would want to know of a few psychiatrists to refer a patient to, or a good crisis clinic,etc. but no formal collaborative agreement or oversight is required.) As far as my understanding goes, the Psych NP needs a collaborative agreement with some oversight with an M.D. Obviously the big plus of the NP is that he/she can prescribe psychotropics, while the psychologist cannot. I believe one or two states have rxp for psychologists, but in those cases, I do believe M.D. collaboration is required. And to gain the rxp, the psychologist needs to go back to school beyond the doctorate for pharm training.

[ARNPsomeday]

In addition to the above replies, a psychologist should NOT touch her/his patients. For a whole host of reasons.