Psychologist, psychoanalyst: what is the difference?

You typed “psy Paris” into Google. Thirty-seven results. Psychologist, psychoanalyst, psychotherapist, psychiatrist… Welcome to the thicket of psy titles. Let us untangle a little of it.

The psychologist: a title protected by law

Psychologist is a regulated title. To obtain it, you need a master’s degree in psychology from a university — five years of study at minimum, with clinical placements and state validation. The psychologist can carry out psychometric assessments, evaluations and psychological follow-ups. The field is broad, the tools vary with specialisation: CBT, humanistic therapies, systemic approaches…

What the psychologist cannot do: prescribe medication. That is the psychiatrist — a medical specialist.

The psychoanalyst: a free title, a demanding training

Psychoanalyst is not a protected title in France. Technically, anyone could claim it. That is a legal reality — and a debate that has existed in the psy field for a long time.

In practice, however, the training of a serious psychoanalyst is anything but light. It rests on three pillars: a personal analysis (the future analyst must himself have been in analysis, sometimes for years), a thorough theoretical grounding in the texts of Freud, Lacan and their successors, and regular clinical supervision. No state diploma — but a commitment to training that often spans a decade. Schools recognised by the state and QUALIOPI certified, such as the one I attended, the EPHEP.

What this means concretely: the psychoanalyst does not seek to correct behaviours or to reach measurable goals. He creates a space where something else can happen — where speech can unfold what it carries, including what the subject does not yet know of himself.

The real difference: two ways of conceiving suffering

At bottom, the distinction is not merely administrative. It is a difference of substance, almost philosophical.

The psychologist — depending on his training — will often work from what is observable, measurable, modifiable. There is a problem, we look for tools to solve it. That is useful. It is effective for many things.

Psychoanalysis starts from another postulate: psychic suffering is not a bug to be fixed. It has a logic, a history, a meaning. It is not the tool that heals — it is speech, time, and the singular bond woven within the analytic frame.

It is not better or worse. It is different. And for some people, at certain moments of their lives, one will be more indicated than the other.

Who am I in all this?

I am a psychoanalyst, with a Lacanian and Freudian orientation. I trained in philosophy, criminology and psychoanalysis, and I went through my own analysis — because that is not negotiable.

But I also practise integratively. I carry out psycho-evaluative assessments (ADHD, burnout, personality disorders), and I integrate tools from DBT — Dialectical Behaviour Therapy — and CBT, for patients who need them and who wish for them.

Because theoretical rigour does not exclude clinical pragmatics. And because a patient is not a category — a patient is someone.

If you are wondering what might suit you best, you can contact me for a first exchange.