What Is The Advantage Of Combining Medication With Psychotherapy For People With Major Depression?

Posted on: June 5, 2016

News & Insights From Santa Monica Psychiatrist Katherine Watkins, M.D.

Both antidepressants and psychotherapy can be effective for major depression or dysthymia, a chronic, low-level form of depression. One of the most fascinating findings is that both medication and psychotherapy produce similar changes in the brain of patients who respond to treatment. We don’t understand why, but it suggests that ultimately psychotherapy — which involves new learning— is working to change the underlying structure and function of the brain. (more…)

Posted in: Mental Health Issues

What Is The Advantage of Combining Medication With Psychotherapy for People With Bipolar Disorder?

Posted on: May 25, 2016

News & Insights From Santa Monica Psychiatrist Katherine Watkins, M.D.

Although mood stabilizers, such as lithium, Depakote or Tegretol, are the mainstays of treatment for bipolar disorder, therapy can be critically important, particularly for individuals newly diagnosed with bipolar disorder or those with significant life stress. Although bipolar disorder usually begins in teenagers/young adult hood, the average age of diagnosis is in the late 20s, which usually means that people have been suffering from it for many years before first getting treatment. Therapy can help people come to terms with the illness, which has often (more…)

Posted in: Mental Health Issues

Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP)

Posted on: January 21, 2016

News & Insights From Santa Monica Psychiatrist Katherine Watkins, M.D.

Several years ago I became interested in a new type of psychotherapy, called Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy, or ISTDP for short. Developed by Habib Davanloo M.D., a clinical researcher at Mc Gill University and Montreal General Hospital, ISTDP is an evidence-based psychotherapy which has been shown to be uniquely effective for people with symptoms such as depression or anxiety, problems with relationships and intimacy, or physical symptoms without a medically identifiable cause, such as headache, shortness of breath, diarrhea, or sudden weakness. The ISTDP model attributes these symptoms to the occurrence of distressing situations where painful or forbidden emotions are triggered but are outside of awareness. (more…)

Posted in: ISTDP