Psychopharmacology and the Mental Health Counselor Assignment

Psychopharmacology and the Mental Health Counselor - Assignment Example Thus, most of these conditions can be treated with a variety of behavioral and cognitive therapy techniques, but what happens when a patient comes in and has a psychological condition that is based off a chemical imbalance in the brain. This requires the use of psychopharmacology to regulate the chemical imbalance in order to change the abnormal behavior. Most counselors do not have the appropriate knowledge to know the entire effects of drugs on their patients. According to Buelow, Hebert, and Buelow (2000), many counselors do not have enough knowledge in the area of psychopharmacology to adequately provide medication for patients. Juxtaposed, many treatment models now incorporate a hybrid technique dealing with both therapy and the use of pharmaceuticals. The counselor should also be aware of the patient’s wishes when talking about drug therapy. It is recommended that the counselors become sensitive to the patient’s feelings regarding pharmacotherapy, the patient†™s previous experience with the negative side effects of drugs, nonadherance of the patient to the set regiment and the patient’s use of drugs and alcohol (Meyer & Simon 1999b). Client education of the drugs used in practice is also important. The first priority is determining whether the illness requires the use of medication or not.