Professionally-Guided Treatment
Much is written of late with regard to focusing on and promoting a “person-centered” approach to mental health and counseling treatment. Person-centered treatment planning has gained momentum mostly in the community mental health industry where federal and state funding for services influences treatment policy and procedure. Consequently, oversight and strict monitoring by governmental agencies guides or directs the treatment philosophies and service guidelines. But as with all rules and policies, individual or agency interpretation has a way of defining the actual implementation of treatment services and to that end the concept of “person-centered planning” has taken on what is more akin to a “person-directed” treatment process; that interpretation, we’re sure, was not the original intention.
In addition to these policy and procedure influences, the general lay person is exposed to more and varied information about mental illness. Television shows about mental illness, pharmaceutical commercials and ads, the medical community opinions and the explosion of information on the internet are just a few of the ways people are hearing about mental health and treatment. Some of this information is useful; often times it tends to promote the “quick fix” mentality for emotional and behavioral problems. You have heard the saying, “a little bit of information can be dangerous”; in this area of understanding mental illness and knowing what is the best-practice treatment intervention requires more than “a little bit of information”.
But here is the challenge for responsible mental health professionals. How do we objectively and professionally assess our patient's treatment needs in light of the patient’s requested/demanded services? “I just need to see a psychiatrist, get on some meds and everything will be fine”, or “My child is Bipolar and just needs medication or the school is going to suspend him”, or “why do I need an assessment first?, I know I am ADHD, I saw a TV show and I have all the signs”. These pressures are indeed real and often difficult to address. We have seen patients and referral sources becoming outright hostile if anything other than the treatment service they request/demand is suggested or recommended.
In spite of all the emotion, it is our contention that all mental health professionals, with integrity and an ethical mindset, need to professionally-guide the course of treatment. They are responsible for ensuring the proper assessment, appropriate treatment plan and education of mental health consumers. Getting buy-in from patients can be a challenge but as experts in the area of human behavior and psychology, we should see this phenomenon as symptomatic of an over-diagnosing of mental illness, a human need to achieve immediate relief from stress, a corporate goal to promote a pharmaceutical company bottom-line, and an information-age that is creating a partially-educated lay community. Do the right thing!
In addition to these policy and procedure influences, the general lay person is exposed to more and varied information about mental illness. Television shows about mental illness, pharmaceutical commercials and ads, the medical community opinions and the explosion of information on the internet are just a few of the ways people are hearing about mental health and treatment. Some of this information is useful; often times it tends to promote the “quick fix” mentality for emotional and behavioral problems. You have heard the saying, “a little bit of information can be dangerous”; in this area of understanding mental illness and knowing what is the best-practice treatment intervention requires more than “a little bit of information”.
But here is the challenge for responsible mental health professionals. How do we objectively and professionally assess our patient's treatment needs in light of the patient’s requested/demanded services? “I just need to see a psychiatrist, get on some meds and everything will be fine”, or “My child is Bipolar and just needs medication or the school is going to suspend him”, or “why do I need an assessment first?, I know I am ADHD, I saw a TV show and I have all the signs”. These pressures are indeed real and often difficult to address. We have seen patients and referral sources becoming outright hostile if anything other than the treatment service they request/demand is suggested or recommended.
In spite of all the emotion, it is our contention that all mental health professionals, with integrity and an ethical mindset, need to professionally-guide the course of treatment. They are responsible for ensuring the proper assessment, appropriate treatment plan and education of mental health consumers. Getting buy-in from patients can be a challenge but as experts in the area of human behavior and psychology, we should see this phenomenon as symptomatic of an over-diagnosing of mental illness, a human need to achieve immediate relief from stress, a corporate goal to promote a pharmaceutical company bottom-line, and an information-age that is creating a partially-educated lay community. Do the right thing!
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