I have been reading the Black Swan and have been impressed by the many insightful observations made by the author.
One of them struck a deep chord in me
“We tend to use knowledge as therapy.”
In an era where cognitive interventions are making steady inroads in psychiatric practice, this observation is quite timely
Can one address the distress of another through mere cognitive explorations and rational discourse?
It is also a pointer to the inadequacies in therapeutic initiatives in psychiatric practice.
Increasing number of clients who seek psychiatric consultation are voicing their concern about purely medication based interventions in practice. Much of 'modern' psychiatric practice seem to be prescription based. While medications do have a role in attenuating emotional distress, isn't there a need to venture further? And therein lies the problem. Even though centers of post graduate training in psychiatric practice are increasing significantly, very few of them offer adequate and supervised training in psychological methods of intervention. When the lure of addressing personal problems through prescriptions is strong (and implicitly facilitated by pharmaceutical lobbies), it is hardly surprising that the motivation to venture into this arena is also waning among professionals and trainees. Unfortunately, the vacuum created by this is filled by self styled 'counselors' whose professional training and credibility seem rather inadequate.
One of them struck a deep chord in me
“We tend to use knowledge as therapy.”
In an era where cognitive interventions are making steady inroads in psychiatric practice, this observation is quite timely
Can one address the distress of another through mere cognitive explorations and rational discourse?
It is also a pointer to the inadequacies in therapeutic initiatives in psychiatric practice.
Increasing number of clients who seek psychiatric consultation are voicing their concern about purely medication based interventions in practice. Much of 'modern' psychiatric practice seem to be prescription based. While medications do have a role in attenuating emotional distress, isn't there a need to venture further? And therein lies the problem. Even though centers of post graduate training in psychiatric practice are increasing significantly, very few of them offer adequate and supervised training in psychological methods of intervention. When the lure of addressing personal problems through prescriptions is strong (and implicitly facilitated by pharmaceutical lobbies), it is hardly surprising that the motivation to venture into this arena is also waning among professionals and trainees. Unfortunately, the vacuum created by this is filled by self styled 'counselors' whose professional training and credibility seem rather inadequate.
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