Rethinking Training for Mental Health Crisis Management
To address our mental health crisis, psychiatrists need a different set of skills.
Here are some of the things I wish psychiatry training programs would spend more time emphasizing:
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) The ACEs study is one of the most significant public health studies of our generation. Exposure to early life toxic stress can help explain a lot of the mental health and addiction problems that emerge in early adulthood.
- Family Therapy / Parenting Skills Training Most people grow up as part of a family system that includes adult caregivers. Psychiatric medications for children can be so ineffective when they are constantly exposed to difficult family dynamics that cause distress.
- The Business of Medicine We may not like it, but money makes the world go round. Whether psychiatrists work alone, as part of a non-profit, or in a for-profit, understanding money flows help us build a sustainable service.
- We Are Advocates Once we finish medical school and psychiatry residency training, we are among the most highly trained mental health and addiction professionals. I’ve found that our input is very welcome among policymakers. It’s up to us to show up at the right place.
- Change Management For some reason, we physicians hate change. On the other hand, if we continue to run our mental health care “system” the same way we’ve been doing for decades, nothing will get better. We need a cultural shift in training programs to help us welcome progress.
- Have a Sense of Urgency This is related to 5. Once we know there’s a problem and a better way to solve it, we should be in a hurry to make a change. I’ve seen too many systems and organizations form task forces and committees and get stuck in analysis paralysis. In the meantime, our neighbors are experiencing crises that could be readily addressed.
What do you think psychiatry training programs should spend more time teaching?
