For over 40 years mental health care has been dominated by the theme that "there is a pill for that" - in treating everything from grief to paranoid schizophrenia. The results have been life-saving for some and life destroying for others. It's in the failures to provide relief that has forced the helping professions to search for new treatments.
“Functional Psychopharmacology" is one such approach, which pairs the short-term use of medications with Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)—to promote functioning and symptom tolerance. In this paradigm, medications are often used short term. There are exceptions, like ADHD, bipolar d/o, OCD, and schizophrenia, where medications are needed long term to enable functioning. But the most common conditions, depression and anxiety, are best served by a functional psychopharmacology approach.
Hear a conversation with the Reluctant Therapist, Elizabeth Barrett, and guest, Psychiatrist Michael McGee about the efforts to broaden the paths to psychic relief.