By Rich Simon As therapists, many of us practice in two different worlds. In the first, we see polite, well-behaved, articulate clients with solid values. They engage fully in therapy, talk cogently about their problems, listen attentively to our responses, make reasonably good-faith efforts to follow our suggestions, and sooner or later get better. No wonder we genuinely like these people! 
By Rich Simon A thousand years ago, during the palmy days of generous insurance reimbursement, therapists could maintain the illusion that, since therapy was paid for by an unseen hidden hand, clinical practice was somehow untouched by the tacky subject of money. Even the style of therapy reflected this disjunction: 
CE Credits: 5 • Price: $59This Reading Course takes a close look at the appropriate use of meds--as well as the abuses--offering practical ideas about how to develop a more informed, clinically effective approach to psychopharmacology. Barry Duncan, Scott Miller, and Jacqueline Sparks take an in-depth, critical look at the research supporting the clinical use of meds. Margaret Wehrenberg offers a range of practical clinical tools as alternatives to medications. Larry Diller makes sense of the controversial use of psychiatric drugs with children. Jay Lebow looks past polemics to consider the empirical evidence concerning the relative advantages of drugs and therapy.
Course Readings
Reassessing SSRIs: Separating Hype from Fact about Antidepressants by Jay Lebow
Is Relief Just a Swallow Away? Guidelines for Using Drugs in Anxiety Treatment by Margaret Wehrenberg
Exposing the Mythmakers: How Soft Sell Has Replaced Hard Science by Barry Duncan, Scott Miller & Jacqueline Sparks
Running on Ritalin: Is It the Drug of Choice or the Drug of Convenience? by Lawrence Diller
Bitter Pill: Ritalin and the Growing Influence of Big Pharma by Lawrence Diller
Oh, How Happy We Will Be by Greg Critser
Diagnosing for Dollars? by Mary Sykes Wylie
Learning Objectives
1. Identify the best drugs for treating the specific anxiety disorders
2. List three common myths about about SSRIs
3. Discuss the pros and cons of Ritalin use in ADD
4. Explain the impact of DSM on therapy
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