Psychopharmacology – Meds Myths and Realities from Frank Anderson

Session 1: How Therapy Can Enhance Psychopharmacology
Frank Anderson, M.D.

Learn how you can help clients derive more benefits from medications by:

• Distinguishing biology from psychology, and psychiatric symptoms from feelings
• Determining whether psychological factors, including attitudes toward authority and fear of losing symptoms, are blocking medication effects
• Empowering clients to take responsibility for their own medication decisions
• Teaching clients to listen to how various parts of themselves are responding to—and often resisting—their prescribed medication
• Tuning into your own attitudes and biases about meds

• How to determine whether a client should be on medication
• What 25 years of clinical research has taught us about the effectiveness of antidepressants
• The often overlooked dangers of not providing sufficiently aggressive treatment for depression
• Whether SSRIs change personality as well as reduce symptoms
• What we’ve learned about how antidepressants actually affect serotonin and the brain

• What clinical conclusions can be drawn from the research on SSRIs and other antidepressants
• How to offer clients an informed perspective on the decision to go on medication
• The three types of psychotherapy shown to be most effective with depression
• How to prepare clients in remission for the possibility of recurrence
• How to involve clients’ families to increase compliance and improve treatment outcomes

• Conduct an extended interview that gets at the vital, actionable information
• Distinguish various diagnostic dimensions crucial to prescribing the appropriate medications
• Assess issues of compliance, duration of med usage, and dosage
• Determine the role of family relationships and other psychological factors in lack of treatment progress
• Avoid common mistakes like changing meds at random, blaming the patient, and continuing ineffective medications

• Look for the key diagnostic signs that medications might be helpful, especially with symptoms of depression, anxiety, ADHD, and intense affective disorders
• Collaborate effectively with psychiatrists, especially in regards to day-to-day indications that a given medication is working or not
• Determine when interventions, both psychological and pharmacological, need to be changed
• Understand the key developmental issues in prescribing medications
• Address common parental concerns about medications and involve them in medication decision-making

• Developing a simple clinical assessment procedure you can use without medical training
• Understanding the role of digestion and nutrition in many psychiatric symptoms
• Assessing the influence of lifestyle issues in clients’ clinical complaints
• Becoming knowledgeable about such factors as hormones, oxidative stress, free radicals, toxic substances, and various environmental influences
• Discovering how complementary treatments like acupuncture can play a role in treatment

Psychopharmacology: What You Need to Know About Psychiatric Medications
Tom Smith, P.D., LMHC, NCP, FAPA, BCCP

Demands on mental health professionals to expand their knowledge of psychotropic meds are like never before… not only do you need to be on top of the latest developments and what is on the horizon, but you also have to take that information and use it most effectively for your client.

• Discuss the clinical uses of the five major psychotropic medication classes, how they work, and their common side effects.
• Describe the benefits, risks, safety factors and controversies associated with psychotropic medication in children and adolescents.
• Address the wide array of mental health disorders for which medications are frequently prescribed.
• Implement effective methods for collaborating with clients, families and prescribers.
• Recognize the ethical and legal issues in discussing medications with clients.
• Examine what’s coming next and emerging trends in psychopharmacology.

Tom Smith, P.D., LMHC, NCP, FAPA, BCCP, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, a Doctor of Pharmacy, is a Board Certified Clinical Counselor. He maintains an active private practice in Martinsville, Indiana, where he works with clients of all ages.

Frank Anderson, M.D., is the chairman of the Foundation for Self Leadership and a psychiatrist and supervisor at the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute.

Peter Kramer, M.D., a psychiatrist specializing in depression, is a faculty member of Brown Medical School and the author of the groundbreaking book Listening to Prozac.

John Preston, Psy. D, a neuropsychologist and psychologist, is the author of over 20 books, including Handbook of Clinical Psychopharmacology for Therapists.

Steven Dubovsky, M.D., is a professor and chair at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He is the author of Clinical Guide to Psychotropic Medications and coauthor of Psychotropic Drug Prescriber’s Survival Guide: Ethical Mental Health Treatment in the Age of Big Pharma.

Ron Taffel, Ph.D., is the chairman of the board of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in New York. His books include Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents: Uncommon Sense for Child Professionals and his latest, Childhood Unbound: Authoritative Parenting for the 21st Century.

Robert Hedaya, M.D., developed the Whole Psychiatry methodology. He is a clinical professor at the Georgetown University Medical Center School of Medicine and author of The Antidepressant Survival Program: How to Beat the Side Effects and Enhance the Benefits of Your Medication.