We've gathered Psychotherapy Networkers most popular posts and arranged them here by topic.
October Quandary: Addressing the Idea of Meds with a Depressed Client
Five Clinicians Weigh In
Sandra has been struggling with depression for many years. A psychiatrist has prescribed her an antidepressant, but she’s told her therapist she doesn’t like the “idea” of meds and doesn’t take them regularly. He's not sure how best to explore the issue with her. Five clinicians share how they'd proceed.
A Look Inside MDMA-Assisted Therapy
A Trauma Specialist Straddles Two Worlds
By Marcela Ot’alora G. - As every trauma therapist knows, getting free of the debilitating symptoms of PTSD, if it happens at all, can take years. In my work on an MDMA-research project, I’ve observed close-up the profound effect psychedelic drugs can have in facilitating—and sometimes transforming—the often lengthy and difficult process of healing from PTSD.
The Limits of Big Pharma
Psychopharmacology Has Plateaued. Does It Have a Future?
By Talia Puzantian - In the more than quarter century since the arrival of Prozac, few medications since then have represented any real expansion of our understanding of how to regulate the nervous system with chemicals. So what lies ahead for psychopharmacology? And where might the new advances come from?
VIDEO: Why Not All Mental Health Problems Are Psychological
Minding the Body Means More Than Just Taking a Pill
Most therapists recognize that physiological processes hugely influence emotion and behavior. But according to psychiatrist Robert Hedaya, too many tend to practice as if treatment should focus entirely on the mind. A comprehensive physiological evaluation is needed, he says, before determining that a medication trial is appropriate.
VIDEO: Why We Need to Talk with Psychiatrists
How Being “On Call” Keeps Kids from Falling through the Cracks
According to therapist Ron Taffel, author of Breaking Through to Teens, kids who need the extra boost from medication need their therapists to go the extra mile and communicate often with prescribers.
A Paradigm of Wholeness
Offering Medication as the Primary—And Often Only—Treatment Isn't Working
By Henry Emmons - Today, medication management remains the primary role of most psychiatrists. In my view, it’s not working well, either for our patients, or for ourselves. Feeling deeply that something was missing in my own psychiatry practice, I developed a three-stage process for treating depression through more holistic, integrative work.
VIDEO: How to Think Scientifically about Medications
Why Having a Hypothesis Works for the Non-Medical Therapist
Despite the increasing popularity of psychiatric meds as the go-to remedy for everything from seasonal depression to social anxiety, drugs are often not the best treatment alternative. In the following video clip, Steven Dubovsky, MD, explains why therapists should create a hypothesis about what might be causing a client’s suffering and investigate it thoroughly before deciding to recommend medication.
VIDEO: Why Anticipating Relapse Is Our Best Defense Against It
How to Mobilize the Client’s Support System
It’s always cause for celebration when depressed clients nears the finish line of treatment, feeling energized, empowered, and more content with their life. But it’s one thing to get people back on their feet from a depressive episode; it’s another to prevent recurrences down the road.
VIDEO: Peter Kramer on Antidepressants and Your Practice
Today's Medications Are Leagues Above Their Predecessors
We've all heard of the undesirable side effects of certain medications that are used therapeutically. But according to psychiatrist Peter Kramer, author of the renowned Listening to Prozac, many of today's antidepressants not only have fewer side effects, but give psychotherapists more flexibility in their treatment options.
VIDEO: How to Broach the Subject of Medication with Kids
When Is It Necessary? An Expert Explains.
Given the stigma still attached to psychiatric drugs, it’s no surprise that today’s kids might have reservations about taking them. But as a specialist in working with kids and teens, therapist and author Ron Taffel knows that for burdened young clients, medication is often necessary to get therapy moving. Therapists, he says, can’t always go it alone.
