Dr. B's Blog

Where has all the psychotherapy gone?

In "Where has all the psychotherapy gone?", the APA Monitor asks:

"Don’t you love ‘If your antidepressant isn’t working … try Abilify!’? How about: ‘If your antidepressant isn’t working, try psychotherapy!’"

The author highlights disturbing trends in spending by drug companies and how insurance companies are encouraging the use of medication over psychotherapy. I believe this to be to the long-term detriment of patients and the insurance companies themselves. After all, we all already know how to take pills. It's the skills we need to actually make real changes in our lives. Medication is an extremely useful adjunct to therapy, but it should not be a replacement for it.