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Dr. Teresa Smith

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Psychiatry and Medication Management

The goal of many psychiatrists is to help their patients without a need for medication. But there are those instances where medication can be incredibly helpful in the healing process. 

While some patients require only one medication for a short duration, others may require multiple prescriptions over longer periods of time. Regardless of how long a person may need to take a medication, management of medicines is essential in their treatment plan.

What is Medication Management in Psychiatry?

Medication management is a process that ensures patients are taking the right medication at the exact right dose for their specific situation. Typically, a psychiatrist will start a new patient on the dose and type of medication that has worked well for similar patients in the past. But numerous follow-up appointments will be scheduled after the initial assessment to ensure the patient’s symptoms are being controlled without any unwanted side effects. 

A person may be on a specific dosage of a specific medication for years and be fine. But the body is constantly changing and it may eventually adapt to a specific dose, so the psychiatrist will want to routinely evaluate and adjust when needed.

What Types of Mental Health Issues Can be Treated with Medication?

Many mental health conditions can be treated with therapy alone. In some cases, such as with a phobia, a prescription can help to take the edge off while the therapy is doing the heavy lifting.

There are those times, however, when medications may play a larger role. For instance, if someone is experiencing depression because of a chemical imbalance, there may need to be a reliance on medication to first rebalance the mind.

If you are suffering from depression, anxiety, or any other mental health issue and you wonder if medication might help, your best course of action is to work with a licensed therapist who can assess you and make the proper treatment recommendations.

If you’d like to explore treatment options, please give my office a call.

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Overcoming Societal Pressures on Becoming a Mother

We’ve all seen those scenes in movies and TV shows where the mother is pressuring her daughter to have children. Usually, the mother character will guilt her daughter by saying something like, “You’re not getting any younger you know,” or, “All I want is to be a grandmother. Why are you keeping that from me!” 

These scenes are always funny. Unless of course, you live these scenes in real life! And sadly, many women do live these scenes on a daily basis. If they’re not getting pressure from their mother about having kids they’re usually getting it from a sister or some of their female friends. But this pressure is far from helpful.

Not All Women are Cut Out for Motherhood

As a therapist, I have heard all kinds of stories about the relationship people have had with their mothers. Now granted, mothers are human beings, and even those that try their very best are going to make some mistakes.

But I have heard more stories than I can count of mothers who seemed to not like being a mother very much at all. I have one client who has shared many heartbreaking stories of his childhood; of his mother who always seemed sad and angry. She was never really “into” playing with him or his two other siblings or spending much time with them. She always made my client feel like she gave up a wonderful life to have children and she regretted it every day.

The truth is, not all women are cut out for motherhood. Some women have it in them and some don’t. There was a time when women didn’t really have a choice but to follow the traditional path and get married and have 2, 3, or more kids. But times have changed and women do have a say now about what kind of life they would like to live. 

Pressuring women to fit a specific mold and have children, just because society deems that the “right” life path is simply wrong. All that does is create families who become broken.

Speaking to Someone Can Help

Are you “of a certain age” and feeling pressured by friends and family to have children? Do you feel overwhelmed? It can really help to have someone in your corner that can help you decide what is right for you personally. A therapist can help you understand clearly what your needs are. He or she can then help you set up boundaries with others so that your needs are met.

If you’d like to speak with someone, please get in touch with me.

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Benefits of Mental Health Professionals Stepping in Instead of Police

There is an epidemic in this country of mental health crises. At the same time, we also have a lack of crisis services, which has led to police officers acting as first responders to many mental health crises across the nation.

The response to this epidemic from many communities has been to develop a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program to improve results in these situations. CIT programs have already been created in over 27,000 communities nationwide. The goal of CIT is to create better channels of communication between law enforcement and other stakeholders in the mental health profession along with those suffering from mental health issues. In addition to improving collaboration, CIT programs also provide intensive training, refer those in crisis to the right treatment options, and also make sure everyone in the community is safe.

Additional Benefits of These Crisis Intervention Programs

CIT programs can also:

  • Keep those with mental health issues out of prison and get them into treatment.
  • Provide law enforcement officers the resources to do their job safely.
  • Allow police officers to focus on reducing crime.
  • Save the community money. Research has found incarceration is far more costly than a treatment program. 

How You Can Help

If you are a mental health professional, police officer, or a family member of someone living with a mental health issue, you can help change how your local community responds to these crises. You can search the National Alliance on Mental Illness website to find your local affiliate. Every person and every voice helps spread this important message far and wide. So please consider advocating today.

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Overcoming Generational Trauma

You know you got your hairline from your Dad’s side of the family and your eye color from your mom. You know diabetes runs in your family, as does heart disease and Parkinson’s.

But do you know that many families also pass down trauma to their loved ones? It’s not just our physical makeup and risk of disease that we inherit from our family, it is also the emotional wounds as well.

What is Transgenerational Trauma?

Before you were born you were in your mother’s womb and very susceptible to her emotions. As your mother felt joy, her body released hormones that made you feel joy.

When she felt sad, scared, or angry, her body released hormones that made her experience these same emotions.

Eventually, you were born and raised in a house that may not always be happy or harmonious. Your parents may have been emotionally distant or even abusive because they may have been brought up by parents who had their own reasons for being emotionally absent or abusive.

Many families have unresolved trauma that works its way through one generation to the next. Those families who have dealt with addiction, depression, anxiety, terror, racism, and the like, often continue to pass on negative emotions, poor behaviors, low self-esteem, and maladaptive coping strategies. These not only lead to a painful and hard life, but they can also lead to chronic health conditions.

It Can Stop With You!

If you have a history of family conflict or trauma, you can be the individual who puts an end to the cycle. You can be the one who begins a new cycle, one of passing down loving communication and positive self-images. 

Of course, it will take work on your part to overcome the pain of your family history. That’s why it’s a good idea to work with a mental health professional who can offer you the right tools and coping strategies that you can then pass down to your own children.

If you’re interested in exploring therapy, please get in touch with me! I’d love to help you end the cycle of trauma in your family.

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