The third in our series on depression includes how technology aids therapy strategies and how to choose therapists, asking questions to ensure evidence-based practice. On Sounds Good, Kate Lochte speaks with Dr. Michael Bordieri, assistant professor of psychology at Murray State.
What we know about how to help
Knowing 'what to do next' is the most important thing. Dr. Bordieri assures that there is hope; there are effective treatments. Medications seem to be more popular, but psychological interventions are growing in popularity as well. One reason is recent changes in healthcare - now insurance companies have to provide equity to mental health treatment. It's easier now to get access to trained therapists who can provide services. Another reason is that the field is getting better at reaching out and providing treatments in accessible places: integrating into primary care settings and VA hospitals.
A developing third area are ways to integrate treatment in every day life. There is a big push to develop apps to augment empirically-supported treatments like PTSD and sleep difficulty treatments. Testing is underway to provide intervention solely through apps, but it's still early on in development.
For most folks, help begins from someone they know and trust, like a doctor.
Evidence-Based Practice
One thing to consider is picking the right therapist for you. It's important to have a therapeutic relationship and working with a therapist using evidence based treatments. Dr. Bordieri says not all therapies are created equal. Go in with a set of questions: How will we know if this treatment will work? Ask about the approach used: what evidence is there that the approach is effective? "You're looking for a provider who is grounded in scientific based practice. Who can talk about their approach having a broad consensus of scientific evidence supporting their technique and someone who uses a set of scientifically validated principles in their work."
At Murray State University, Dr. Bordieri teaches his graduate students that "The job in the therapy room is to take what we know in the scientific literature, match that to the needs of a particular client and their preferences and the available resources and combine all of those factors together into an evidence based practice."
Dr. Bordieri's contributions to this series are strictly informational, and should not be construed as any form of psychotherapy, counseling, diagnosis, or treatment. Any health condition, including depression, should be evaluated and treated by a qualified professional in the context of an established professional relationship.
On Monday, October 20 at 12:15, we'll learn about mindfulness and newer interventions.
