My Therapist thinks I could go off meds?!

My first T the whole time (3 yrs.) with her was spent getting me to take my meds, accept help, and trust the mental health system. I didn't want meds, certainly not AP's they were taking away who I was. They were taking away my eating disorder! Our conversations revolved around my distorted thinking (lack of AP), fear of getting committed, trying to get me to stay on medication. Not once did my therapist say it was short term. If she would have said she can't talk about I would be in a much worse situation now. If my other therapists would have said meds are a short term option until I figure out how to deal with life. I'd been in a worse situation.

I don't think it's outside T's scope to talk about meds. Without my first T, I wouldn't be on meds and probably hospitalized more then I have been. Talk to T about how that comment effected you. Was it meant to give you hope?

If a therapist tells you to do something not so good, (notice I'm very restraint, moderator)
would you do it?. Even if it is what's you want to hear?.

Therapists are trained to assess for suicidal depression . . . not that they, or anyone, always catches it. Therapists are not trained to discriminate between depression caused by an adverse reaction to medication verses depression caused by other issues. I am not aware of therapists taking even a single one credit course in pharmacology. I worked in a setting where there were medical staff and licensed counselors. It was the practice there for counselors to refer all med issues, or suspicion of med issues, to the nurses, as discussing medication was considered outside their scope of practice. Most of them didn't even know how to spell common psych drugs.

I had fairly severe reactions to two medications. The reactions could have become life-threatening, if I hadn't figured out myself what was going on. The drugs were lithium and Ritalin. In both cases, I went to psychiatrists with serious symptoms. The docs failed to catch that I was having adverse reactions. Each time, they told me to just go home and stay on the meds ordered. Lithium can cause severe dehydration and loss of muscle coordination. Ritalin caused me severe anxiety. My pdoc misinterpreted that as depression and wanted me to go for ECT. When I stopped the Ritalin, the anxiety resolved and the uncontrollable crying went away.

I would encourage everyone to get in the habit of chatting with their pharmacist. That's who might give you some of the best feedback regarding meds.

I'm glad you found a provider who gives you one stop shopping and can evaluate you better.

I do not think tdocs are qualified about meds. Sure, due to patterns in their patients behaviors, they can tell what meds seem to work better than others, for some people. But anything beyond this is outside of their pervue. They should act on their suspicions by referring their patient to the pdoc. Saying that you will be able to go med free is professionally irresponsible, and risky. IMO this is ethically unsound. Now I can understand why someone like the OP wishes this to be true inspite evidence to the contrary. I would just use her for therapy and ignore everything else. Time will prove whether her assertion is true. But presently I would place no weight on her well intentioned but out of place comment to you. She is qualified only for mental therapy.

Thanks for all the kind replies. I called my therapist a Tdoc because I'd seen that here somewhere. Didn't know the lingo. She IS a PhD though.

Anyway I spoke with her today and told her my concerns about her statement. She apologized, also downplayed it a bit. And she mentioned my Pdoc had called her (about something unrelated).

In any case, I still like her. Think I'll keep her!

The question is does her PhD qualify her for meds? I knew a PhD in some unrelated field, a very smart person, but I would not go to him for advice on meds. Even actual MD doctors, specialists in their own fields, very intelligent people, frequently refer their patient to a pdoc. Some doctors apparently know their own limitations.

I am sorry for being so forward. I probably made a big deal over very little here. Since you have been going to your tdoc a awhile, and this apparently resolved itself, and she seems to be working out for you, I think you are making a good choice staying with her. Finding a another good tdoc can be very difficult.

Just for an aside here, I dated a psychologist. She did not have a PhD, instead she was a PsyD. This is another kind of PhD. This lady was very perceptive of people. Her degree involved a lot of hands on experience, including allot of time testing patients in order to assess them for a possible MI. If they tested to have an MI, she also identified the MI that they presented. She is definitely more qualified than any pdoc that I have met to determine a persons MI. But of coarse there are exceptions. As far as I know, maybe your tdoc may be just as capable, and even a good therapist too. The latter is the most important part.

PS. My girlfriend did not appear to be a good therapist. But she was quickly figuring me out. This was kind of uncomfortable for me. She still was allot of fun to be with.

Some doctor level psychologists are very skilled at diagnosing. The federal government hires them for that purpose . . . sometimes to assess competency in people arrested for a federal crime.

Psychologists tend to think that psychiatrists over medicalize "problems of living" and overly turn to drugs as the cornerstone of treatment. At least that's what I was told by 3 of them.

No worries. I never did go to her for advice on meds and would not. I think she got carried away and my Pdoc schooled her just a little.