The Psychodynamic Strikes Back

If your month has been anything like mine, the winding down of the academic year has not meant things are any less busy.  In fact, the duties of gardening have made the day even more packed!  Take comfort though, an hour of gardening burns off approximately 300-350 calories.

This June the American Journal of Psychiatry released an article which evaluated three yearlong treatments for Borderline Personality Disorder.  There were several things that were interesting about this study, one of the first to compare DBT with therapies partially or fully psychodynamic in nature.  First, all three groups treated showed marked improvement over the course of a year in the areas of anxiety, depression, and social anxiety.  Second, both DBT and transference-focused therapies were significantly associated with decreased suicidality.  Third, the psychodynamic treatments demonstrated more improvement in anger and impulsivity.  You may find this abstract and article of interest, especially when you are discussing with HMOs and others the importance of evidence-based treatment.

Dual Diagnosis—Best Practice

Although most of us are treating patients with co-occurring disorders, this article by John K. Smith highlights potential deficits in our training.  Beginning with a case study involving illustrating a dual diagnosis patient, Smith discusses the use of motivational interviewing during initial assessment and a dual diagnosis treatment model.  He then outlines some basic competencies for clinicians treating mental health and concurrent substance abuse issues.  You may find this article useful not only in terms of clinical practice, but as a framework for clinicians you supervise.

The iPractice

You may have all the materials you need to successfully and frugally market your practice for the information age.  From mining data to expand your network to preparing your digital credentialing library to developing a website, I can offer you some pointers individually or with group presentations.  If you would like to arrange a consultation on how you can use the latest technology to grow your practice, feel free to contact me.

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