A halfway decent psychiatrist will also handle therapist referral. I don't see any issue with seeing a psychiatrist first, it's not like they just automatically

A halfway decent psychiatrist will also handle therapist referral. I don't see any issue with seeing a psychiatrist first, it's not like they just automatically hand out a prescription. It's actually way more common to see GPs do that for depression in the US. That said, OP should probably look into both himself, see what the wait time and cost differences are between the two routes in his area.