Medication vs. Psychotherapy

MEDICATION vs PSYCHOTHERAPY

Most mental health professionals will agree that a combination of medication and therapy yields the best results for you.

Medication

Alphabetically, there is a dizzying array of medicines for your emotional and mental well-being; from A to Z- Abilify to Zyprexa.  If you suffer from mild anxiety or depression to full blown mental debilitation, they are there for you.  MD’s of many stripes, including psychiatrists are there to write you a script and supervise the management of them.  With health insurance, your costs can be reasonable.  Without insurance you may pay anywhere from $5 to over $700 per minimal month’s supply per day.  If you require two or three times that supply, costs will add up.

According to some studies, medicines are effective (assuming side effects), but not for all of us.  Some put that number near half of us.  The problem is that relief can last only as long as you faithfully take them; conversely, relief diminishes and/or stops when you stop. Problem not solved.

 Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy works!  To quote Dr. Katherine Nordal, “Multiple studies show that for many conditions, psychotherapy works, and it works well.  People with mild-to-moderate depression begin to feel better after just a few sessions.” And isn’t that what you are searching for?

But which therapist?  Some are better for you than others.  If your problem is one thing and your therapist specializes in another, there isn’t a good fit.  Who is he/she really? Not only are there those who are specialists, they can also be expert in subspecialties. And how expert is he/she?  It is said that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill.  That means years.

At Counseling on Demand we have served a combination of 90+ years. To insure a good comfortable fit between you and our therapist, we offer a free consultation.  And if you decide that we are right for you, we may even be able to do better than years of medication alone, and in less time.