Psychotropics, Consultation, and Psychology.

The status of psychology in national health insurance is clouded in the minds of some Washington planners because the independent practice of psychology is identified with fee-for-service payment mechanisms, active treatment is identified with drug therapy rather than psychotherapy, and planners are unfamiliar with the nature and the scope of the practice of psychologists. Also, some feel that psychology is not equivalent in practice to psychiatry because psychologists are not integrated into the medical community and because psychologists do not prescribe drugs. These criticisms seem unfounded, since physicians and psychologists have regular consultations and psychologists see many patients who have previously been treated with psychotropic medications. Further, clinical experience indicates frequent therapeutic success by reducing or discontinuing medication rather than placing patients on psychotropics. Accordingly, a questionnaire was sent to the 87 members of the Cleveland Academy of Consulting Psychologists (CACP), requesting information concerning the prescribing of psychotropics and records of interprofessional consultations. The results are provided here. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)