Aloha (From Hilo, Hawaii) to all who happen by-
This is my first Blog posting. As I ponder what is worth writing down, or worth taking the time to read, I am struck by the idea that I am no more qualified to write than many who will be reading. I never learned to spell well. My grammer is reasonably poor--my oldest daughter, who is 30 years younger than I, still corrects me! And, unfortunately, as my husband frequently points out, I capitalize letters on a whim! In other words, in order for you to be comfortable reading my blog, you will have to tolerate some evidence of poor reading, writing, and even speaking skills. None-the-less, you will have the benefit of knowing that I tend to be brutally honest in my assessments, regardless of the audience. So what you read will, in fact, accurately reflect who I am and what I believe on a wide range of topics.
I think this is probably enough information to start with. However, by way of further introduction, I want to address an often asked question before finishing up today's blog. That question comes in a variety of forms, but usually boils down to one of the following: 1) what is the difference between psychology and psychiatry? or 2) What is the difference between a PHD and an MD? or 3) Which one can prescribe medicines?
The answer(s) to these questions are fairly straightforward. Both a psychologist (PHD or sometimes PsyD or EDD) and a medical doctor (MD) have had roughly the same number of years in college. We both got a Bachelors degree of some sort (considered a 4 year degree by most), and we both then did another 4-6 years of school beyond the Bachelors degree. In my case (I am a psychologist,) I went to the University of California at SanDiego (In LaJolla, CA) for my bachelors degree [Bachelors of Arts(=BA)] with double majors in comparative physiology and psychology. In the case of my husband, a Neurologist (MD), I believe he did his Bachelors in Science (BS) at NorthWestern University in Illinois. Then for my psychology Graduate training, I went to a (4-5 year) doctoral program in psychology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In the neurologist's case, he went to the University of Chicago Medical School for his graduate level training. We both did a 1 year, full time internship in our respective fields (mine in psychology, his in internal medicine) at the end of our Graduate programs (PHD or MD).
After I received my PHD diploma from the U. of Colorado at Boulder, I then completed over 2000 hours of supervised work prior to sitting for the licensure exam in Psychology. Upon successfully passing the licensure exam, I was finally able to call myself a licensed Psychologist. (As to my husband, the MD, he chose to further specialize as a Neurologist, so he comepleted a 3 year 'Neurology residency' program under the supervision of other Neurologists and finally passed his Neurology board exams about 3 years after graduating from Medical School.)
The psychologist, in general,uses talk therapy, play therapy, couples therapy, etc. to help people overcome difficulties they are having in their daily lives so that they might live more fulfilled lives. On the other hand, the medical doctor specializes in diagnosing and treating physical ailments and injuries. Although there is overlap (after all, our emotions and personalities are based in part on brain function, and via chemical 'pathways' in the brain) a good way to think about the differences is that the MD works with the tangible--our organs, our bodies, physical injuries; wheras the psychologist tends to work more with the intangible "inner" realities of our lives. The MD will prescribe you medicines, where I, the psychologist, am more likely to prescribe you homework!
Mahalo--until next time--Dr. Maryruth Eaves-Herrera, Ph.D.
(PHD is the abbreviation for: Doctorate in Philosophy--
and the area of study for me was psychology)
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