Some questions I often ask my clients who are seeking help and who are taking medication for anxiety and/or depression is:
How do you get off the meds?
Can you ever get off the meds?
How do you know when you can get off the meds?
How long will you need to take these meds?
And then the important question of :
Would you want to be med free one day?
These are not the first questions I ask a new client, but they do come up at the beginning when connecting and exploring what they want to work on and change in their life.
Usually they have no answer for the first 4 questions. They know how to get on meds through their doctor’s guidance but not on how to get off. If they are experiencing the negative effects of mood enhancement medication and they answer ‘yes’ to one day wanting to be med free again, then we can start the process of change – from the inside- out towards that goal.
Medications can have their place in Mental health, but most people I work with do want to get off at some time. There are many variables to consider before starting or stopping medication, under a doctor’s supervision, of course. But the negative effects of taking medication with no end in sight can be very disheartening for people.
What they actually want is good mental health, which becomes the overall goal of therapy. The therapy work then focuses on releasing, healing, or processing what gets in the way of their mental health.
Ultimately the clients I work who are on medication work to reclaim their mental health and be able to live their life to the fullest possible – with or without medication.