Integrative mental health care is a rapidly emerging paradigm that combines prescription medications, psychotherapy and a range of evidence-based Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies. Highly purified natural products are now widely used to treat depressed mood and other mental health problems. for example, Omega-3 essential fatty acids derived from fish oil, kelp or flax seed oil have beneficial effects at many levels in the body and brain and are commonly recommended by family doctors and psychiatrists to increase the beneficial effects of antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and other psychotropic medications.
Functional medicine is an interdisciplinary discipline that conceptualizes the causes of illness in relationship to informational changes in inter-cellular communication processes that cause illness. Functional medicine approaches used in mental health care include dietary modification, amino acid therapy, and supplementation with high doses of specific vitamins and minerals. In addition to the above therapies based on well known biological mechanisms of action, energy therapies, including Reiki, qigong, Healing Touch, and energy psychology are widely used to treat mental health problems.
Trauma Informed Therapists
Trauma-Informed Care is not about specific therapeutic techniques—it is an overall approach, a philosophy of providing care.
- A safe therapeutic environment is essential to aid in recovery.
- Trauma-related symptoms and behaviors originate from adapting to traumatic experiences.
- Recovery from trauma is identified as a goal in treatment.
- The therapist assists clients to connect the dots between their past trauma history and their current difficulties.
- The therapist expresses hope in recovery, and that dealing with past trauma is part of the recovery process.
- Resiliency and trauma-resistant skills training are part of treatment. There are many alternative coping strategies that can be learned to cope with past trauma.
- Trauma-Informed Care includes a focus on strengths rather than pathology.
- Trauma-Informed Care is a collaborative effort.
- There are many other components of Trauma-Informed Care. The most important concept is that TIC is not just about how a therapist interacts with a specific client. It is also about how the entire organization can be better prepared to serve all their clients.