I like what lucydog wrote about how she interacts with and cares for the patients she treats and prescribes for.

I am not that keen, though, on a therapist butting into medication decisions. I think that should be between the patient and prescriber, not the therapist. The therapist does not have training in pharmacology. I do not think it is the T's business, and certainly not within their scope of practice, to be nagging and bullying the patient about what is going on with meds. The T just doesn't have the expertise. If the prescriber is also the therapist, that's different, but not too common these days.

I have strong feelings about this because my first therapist was giving me medication advice (ultimatums, really), and she knew nothing in that area. She was an MSW!! She told me she would terminate me as a client if I ever took psych meds. And she was really pissy about it when I raised the possibility. At the time, I didn't know what to think because I was quite new to therapy, and I was severely depressed. I just figured she knew best and stuck with her med-free approach to treatment, which was a rather mediocre version of therapy. (She would say stupid things like "do something nice for yourself--take a bubble bath." GAG. USELESS. How is that supposed to help? I want to work on my problems in therapy, not talk about taking bubble baths!) In retrospect, I realize that if I had taken meds then, my recovery might have been expedited. I might not have felt so crappy for so long. I wish she had stayed in her own corner. Let the meds advice be given by professionals who know what they're talking about.[/rant]