Both psychiatric residency training and elective postresidency fellowship training focus on working with either adults or children. The cornerstone of child psychiatric training is the body of knowledge about child development. Psychiatrists provide evaluation and treatment of children, adults, and families. 1 Psychology Psychologists either have a doctorate in philosophy, which emphasizes both clinical training in psychology and training in scientific research, or they have a doctorate in clinical psychology, in which the primary emphasis of training is clinical work rather than research. The average length of graduate training is between 5 and 7 years.
Psychologists provide evaluation and treatment of children, adults, and families.
They are the only mental health professionals accredited to perform psychological testing and evaluation. For the purposes of this manual, the focus will be on clinical practice or the provision of assessment and psychotherapy. In most States, clinical social workers possess a 2-year master's degree and postdegree requirements for clinical supervision. The historical orientation and distinguishing characteristic of social work training is to view the client in the context of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intersystemic functioning. 3 Master's level social workers are often actively involved in multidisciplinary training.