Are there any benefits to just doing medication visits? For example, it is less expensive for the patient to see a psychologist or other psychotherapist for regular therapy appointments.

If a psychiatrist and a psychologist (or social worker or MFCC) work closely together, in the same office or same clinic, and have regularly scheduled meetings to discuss the cases they have in common, they could, theoretically provide good treatment to a patient, with less overall cost. However, in the real world, this doesn’t happen as diligently as it should. Regularly scheduled weekly meetings to discuss cases become five-minute telephone calls every six weeks, if that. Continute reading…

Dr. Carole Lieberman

In this no-holds-barred interview, Dr. Lieberman tells it as she sees it. Want PC? Don’t read this interview!

Therapy Soup is fortunate enough to be able to speak with three-time Emmy award winning psychiatrist and author, Dr. Carole Lieberman. We wanted to discuss why the vast majority of psychiatrists no longer do psychotherapy and why Dr. Carole (who is a psychiatrist who does psychotherapy), believes this to be detrimental to the patient.  

Welcome, Dr. Carole. Can you tell us a little bit about the genesis of psychiatry and how it has changed over the years?

Before the advent of psychiatric medication, the influence of Sigmund Freud, the Father of Psychoanalysis, and his ‘talking cure’ was profound. Then medications became the ‘shiny new toy’ that caught the eye of psychiatrists and gradually distracted them away from getting at the underlying root of the problem through therapy. There is no doubt that psychiatric medications can be, literally, lifesaving for many patients, but they should not be used without psychotherapy given along with them. Otherwise, the medications are simply masking the symptoms and allowing the patient to pretend that he doesn’t have any underlying problems. If a patient has a problem serious enough to require medication, then he certainly needs psychotherapy, as well. Read on, fearlessly…here.

We’ll be back blogging again on this site  (at least that’s the plan), throughout May.

NARSAD the Brain and Behavior Research Fund is running a month-long series of open-to-the-public forums sharing the latest discoveries in mental health.  On our Therapy Soup blog on Psychcentral.com we will be doing a series of interviews with the world’s top mental health researchers. See www.narsad.org for more information about their programs and research.

Whose fault is it when therapy fails–the therapist’s or the patient’s? 

Why therapy patients must advocate for themselves?

Are some therapists in it for the money?

Why some people are magnets for people with problems?

Why many men won’t go to therapy?

How co-occurring disorders should begin to be treated?

Why gentle challenging of dysfunctionl beliefs, values, and notions is part of therapy?

Why chatting isn’t therapy?

Why revealing hidden issues can be helpful?

How to shop for a therapist, and tons more tips.    Enjoy! C.R

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/therapy-soup/2010/01/turn-turn-turn/