FEDERATION OF TEXAS PSYCHIATRY

            A United Voice for Texas Psychiatry

The Federation of Texas Psychiatry unites Texas' professional psychiatric organizations. Voting member organizations - the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians, the Texas Academy of Psychiatry, and the Texas Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Associate member organizations - the Texas Foundation for Psychiatric Education and Research, the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association and the Texas Medical Association - together represent about 45,000 physicians in Texas united in advocacy for patients and quality psychiatric care.

ABOUT PSYCHIATRY: WHAT IS A PSYCHIATRIST?

A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. It takes many years of education and training to become a psychiatrist. He or she must graduate from college and then medical school, and go on to complete four years of residency training in the field of psychiatry. (Many psychiatrists undergo additional training so that they can further specialize in such areas as child and adolescent psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, psychopharmacology, and/or psychoanalysis.) This extensive medical training enables the psychiatrist to understand the body's functions and the complex relationship between emotional illness and other medical illnesses. The psychiatrist is thus the mental health professional and physician best qualified to distinguish between physical and psychological causes of both mental and physical distress.
 

Send mail to TxPsychiatry@aol.com with questions or comments.
Last modified: 06/19/06