Beyond Informed Consent: Talking to Patients About Therapeutic Action.

Psychodynamically oriented psychotherapists are faced with the question of what to say to new patients about the therapy they are beginning. This article reviews historical attitudes about early treatment discussions with patients in psychoanalysis with an emphasis on how these discussions have evolved as informed consent became a standard of care. Approaches to talking to patients about therapeutic action in psychodynamic psychotherapy are discussed, including the development and application of a psychoeducational document that is being used to facilitate these discussions in the outpatient residents' clinic of a large urban academic medical center.

Psychopharmacology Prescribing Workshops: A Novel Method for Teaching Psychiatry Residents How to Talk to Patients About Medications.

Objective: Traditional, lecture-based methods of teaching pharmacology may not translate into the skills needed to communicate effectively with patients about medications. In response, the authors developed an interactive course for third-year psychiatry residents to reinforce prescribing skills.

Methods: Residents participate in a facilitated group discussion combined with a role-play exercise where they mock-prescribe medication to their peers.

Thinking Outside of Outpatient: Underutilized Settings for Psychotherapy Education.

Objective: Although psychiatry residents are expected to achieve competency in conducting psychotherapy during their training, it is unclear how psychotherapy teaching is integrated across diverse clinical settings.

Methods: Between January and March 2015, 177 psychiatry residency training directors were sent a survey asking about psychotherapy training practices in their programs, as well as perceived barriers to psychotherapy teaching.

Results: Eighty-two training directors (44%) completed the survey.