Working With Patients Who Take Medication: A Psychodynamic Perspective

When a patient in psychotherapy takes medication, the drug has many faces. For the patient, it may be a gift, a poison, a magical talisman, or “crazy cousin Harry.” On the other hand, the non-prescriber may find he/she envies the prescriber’s perceived ability to affect change by wielding a powerful potential antidote to the therapist’s sense of helplessness. This seminar will explore the dynamic meaning of psychopharmacological interventions in psychodynamic treatments through readings and case examples. In addition, we will discuss practical strategies for the non-prescriber working in collaboration with a prescriber.

Maureen Smith Ruffell, M.D., Member and Faculty, SFCP
Saturday, December 3, 2011
3 CME/CE credits available

Educational objectives:

1. Participants will be able to articulate several common dynamic meanings that patients perceive in the use of psychotropic medications.
2. Participants will be able to identify common counter transference reactions of therapists whose patients take medications.
3. Participant non-prescribers will be able to apply a variety of practical strategies derived from psychodynamic principles that facilitate collaborative work with their patients’ prescribers aimed at enhancing patient compliance and improving the possibility for positive outcomes from medication.