Prescription Privileges To Clinical Psychologists

Kaut and Dicknson (2007) states “a growing challenge for mental health counselors is to understand the potential benefits and limitations of many different types of drugs “(.p204-205). Drugs are prescribed to have an effect on the brain and behavior of clients. Mental health counselors are advised to be trained in how psychotropic medications can benefit and be at risk for their clients and to develop a collaborative approach to treatment (Kaut & Anderson, 2004; King & Dickinson, 2007). While mental health counselors cannot prescribe medication, they can recommend medication and educated their

In today’s world of technology and advances in the medical system, many people are now getting care that many people in days gone by would not have gotten. With this progression more people than ever are being diagnosed and treated for Mental Health conditions. Dr. Allen Frances (2013, May 4) suggests that some people do not actually need treatment and doctors are over diagnosing. In Dr. Allen Frances (2013, May 4) video he is calling for Mental Health Care System reform.

The overall message and core argument this book offers is that the new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM-5, will cause an enormous increase of people who are not mentally ill being diagnosed with a mental disorder and receiving unnecessary treatment for it. Allen Frances argues that assigning everyday problems to mental disorders causes massive disadvantages for individuals and society. Diagnosing a healthy person as mentally ill will lead to unnecessary, harmful medications, the constricting of horizons, misallocation of medical recourses, and wasting the budgets of families and the state. He states as well that we do not take responsibility for our own mental well-being. We do not trust our

Drugs are poisoning our society. Our children are being given “psychotropic drugs at an alarming rate” (Rapoport, 2013). It seems that some of these mental health care

Whitaker expands on the fact that the mentally ill who use psychiatric drugs suffer serious physical tolls on their bodies, indicating that there are more than just mental consequences to using such drugs. From the 1950’s until now, and in the future, the currently prescribed psychiatric drugs continue to hold a broad range of physical health risks. For example, Whitaker

On any given day approximately fifty percent of individual’s, or 3.5 million people, with severe psychiatric disorders go untreated. In 2013, many of those became part of the more than forty-one thousand suicides in our country. These individuals may also have been the patients who were told on a daily basis, to wait thirty days to six months to see a psychiatrist. The numbers of diagnosed mental illnesses have rapidly increased in the past thirty years but yet the numbers of mental health providers have not been able to keep up with that drastic increase. While it is unclear if there is correlation with the increased recognition of mental illnesses and the number of diagnosed illnesses, it is clear to the Center for Disease Control and

State level licensure of psychologists is a relatively recent initiative by health boards. After World War II, the demand for psychological expertise expanded in large part due to an influx of veterans needing mental health services. The Veterans Administration (V.A.) subsequently became a large employer of psychologists and also established multiple internship training programs, originating “clinical psychologist” as a job title (Reaves, 2006). At the licensure level, the term “clinical psychologist” is often used to refer to health service psychologists more generally, and has been a source of confusion (Hall, 2011; Health Care Financing Administration, 2000). As V.A. employment of psychologists expanded, the number of private practitioners also began to increase, creating an impetus to propose state licensure laws to help establish minimal standards of education and training (DeMers et al., 2014). Because it is difficult to monitor the quality of care provided by licensed psychologists who are not subjects of a complaint (Keith-Spiegel & Koocher,

If anyone were to take a look at The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 4th edition, (DSM IV), they would discover that nearly every human being could relate to “symptoms” required for some form of mental disorder. The need for effective mental health services in this country is essential, not only for general society, but also within the criminal justice system. These days it seems that more and more people are being diagnosed with some form of mental disorder or disability. It’s important that those who provide mental health services be properly trained and certified so as to

Access to mental health care within the recent years have risen. Yet people looking for mental health care are not able to always find help. Many people are not able to find any help because many psychiatrists are unavailable to take on new patients, or have a wait list. The argument to someone having access to mental health care is there, but it is still not available to that individual. Although there seems to be access to mental health care, it is not available to everyone, and because of that, the United States government needs to provide affordable mental health facilities and social services, such as mental health screenings and psychiatrists at public buildings, such as hospitals, to allow a greater availability to mental health care in the United States.

According to Friedman (2014), the quality and productiveness of clinical care have become most important in many Western countries as the cost of health care continues to rise. Public facilities such as clinics are advice to assess and improve their treatment services as well as tools to target evidence-based practice interventions (Levy et al., 2014). On the other hand, treatment effectiveness, clinical accountability, higher standardization, and cost-effectiveness is another important factor to the administrators, policymakers’, clinicians, and patients alike, complexities comes when controlling what evidence is contemplate acceptable. Some researchers in the field of psychotherapy have suggested that clinicians are not well-enough trained

In addition, without medication people suffering from psychological disorders wouldn’t be able to maintain a job or a healthy relationship.

Psychotropic medications are now among the most commonly prescribed of all medications, and the widened use of these agents has improved the lives of millions of individuals living with mental illness. Psychotropic medications are among the most commonly prescribed of all pharmacological agents. Significant controversy exists surrounding ethical best practices in the prescription of psychotropics. Why is it that non psychiatric providers are the source of most psychotropic prescriptions in the United States? Should the professionals that specialize in the study of mental illness be the only provider allowed to prescribe the psychotropic medication? “Suddenly I wanted to get better. Mania wasn’t fun anymore. It wasn’t creative or visionary. It was mean parody at best, a cheap chemical, trick. I needed to stop and get better. I’d take whatever they gave me. I pledged silently. I’d take Trilafon or Thorazine or whatever. I just wanted to sleep” David Lovelace. There are ethical questions about whether these drugs ,some powerful antipsychotics, are being given by the appropriate provider, whether they are over-prescribed, and whether treatment for complex

The right to prescribe medication for psychologist have been a hot topic in the mental health field and have been a major goal of the American Psychological Association. In fact, the American Psychological Association have established many different training programs and legislations towards achieving this goal. Today, the state of New Mexico, Louisiana, and Illinois are the three states that have approved prescription rights for psychologist, with many other state have already introduced similar legislation waiting for approval. It is believed that the benefits of granting prescription rights to psychologist are that it would improve mental health service, affordability, accessibility and effectiveness of mental health treatment. However, giving psychologist the prescription right could lead to many negative factors such as psychologist’s lack of appropriate training for prescribing medication, changes in psychologist treatment for patient, and legal and ethical issues.

The debate in regards to granting psychotherapists prescription privileges, has been argued for quite some time now. This paper will explore the idea whether psychotherapists should be allowed to prescribe medication in America. Through supporting evidence and research, this paper aids the idea that psychotherapists should not be allowed to prescribe medication. Based on three main areas of focus, I support my argument by showing how the lack of experience and knowledge pertaining to medicine, deems psychotherapist unsuitable to prescribe medication. It takes four years of medical school, not to mention experience in clinical practice, to fully master the skill and knowledge required to prescribe medication. The paper will discuss in depth

Drugs and alcohol are medications prescribed by warriors for warriors. The option of seeing a psychiatrist comes with scrutiny