Integrating Meaning and Medication to Address Treatment-Resistance: Practical Psychodynamics and the Art of Pharmacotherapy

Integrating Meaning and Medication to Address Treatment-Resistance: Practical Psychodynamics and the Art of Pharmacotherapy is organized by Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and will be held from Jul 25 - 26, 2024 at Landmark Resort, Door County, Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, United States of America.

Description:
This course will review the historical and theoretical tensions between bio- and psychosocial psychiatry and will explore possibilities of integration. We will examine the evidence base connecting meaning, medications, and outcomes, will explore the dynamic meaning of medications and common dynamics contributing to pharmacologic treatment-resistance. We will review psychodynamic concepts relevant to the practice of psychopharmacology and explore a model (Psychodynamic Psychopharmacology) that aims to enhance pharmacotherapy outcomes through the integration psychodynamic attitudes and skills. We will focus on techniques for fostering a patient-centered pharmacotherapeutic alliance and will consider necessary skills for identifying and addressing psychological and interpersonal interferences with the healthy use of medications. More broadly, we will consider approaches to optimize the integration of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, in both combined and split treatments.

Learning Objectives:
• Participants who engage in this education intervention will be able to:
• Cite aspects of the evidence base demonstrating that how one prescribes may affect outcomes as much as what one prescribes
• Recognize and formulate common psychodynamics interfering with optimal pharmacotherapy outcomes
• Develop a patient-centered alliance that supports the patient’s ability to make healthy use of medications
• Use psychodynamically-informed interventions to address dynamics driving treatment-resistance