Functional and integrative medicine for mental health can profoundly improve outcomes. And we should know, as we’ve been using and educating on these methods for years, and we see the differences with our own patients everyday.
Current approaches to mental health care focus on medications, which are only modestly effective, mask causes and triggers, and often leave patients with residual symptoms. By evaluating and addressing the root causes of mental illness, it is possible to finally help patients recover and break free from symptom management.
Take the Guesswork Out of Treatment
Functional medicine can take the guesswork out of mental health care. The latest research shows that multiple factors contribute to mental health, including nutrient deficiencies, hormone or endocrine dysregulation, inflammation, microbiome disturbances, chronic infections, toxicities, food allergies, blood sugar imbalances, genetic factors and personal history.
Standard treatment approaches focus on diagnoses from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or DSM. While these can provide a label for patient symptoms, the DSM does not identify the etiology of conditions. By using functional laboratory testing to analyze imbalances, we can identify root causes and treat them directly. When we tailor treatment to each patient’s underlying imbalances and root causes, we can profoundly improve patient healing and recovery – often resolving triggers and symptoms that have been persistent for years.
Find Greater Career Satisfaction
Imagine the satisfaction from actually resolving your patient’s symptoms! Functional and integrative approaches to mental health care are in high demand. Nowadays, patients want treatment options that go beyond medication and symptom management. And the research supports the efficacy of numerous non-medication-based approaches.
A simple example gaining traction is metabolic psychiatry, which focuses primarily on normalizing blood sugar levels and inflammation through a ketogenic diet, lifestyle changes and medications. And the latest research shows significant benefits through this approach!
Reduce or Eliminate Medication Side Effects
Using medication as the only treatment for mental illness is generally not a cure-all. Medications generally focus on symptom management. And while they still have their place in mental health treatment, the accompanying side effects often cause compliance problems and can be a huge concern to patients.
Many medication side effects are caused by nutritional deficits and imbalances. When these deficits are tested and treated appropriately, side effects can be minimized or eliminated. That’s another core component of functional psychiatry: we believe medication has it’s place, but patients shouldn’t be hindered by side effects or a lifetime of medication reliance.
Implement Leading-Edge Precision Medicine
Personalized medicine (or precision medicine) has been used for years in cancer treatment. While traditional psychiatry has been slow to adopt this approach, precision medicine plays a key role in mental health treatment. Once we start to see each patient as an individual with unique biochemical and genetic differences, we can customize treatment to achieve greater efficacy and results.
Personalized medicine for mental illness – or precision psychiatry – takes the guesswork out of standard mental health care and symptom management. It gives providers the power to objectively measure, test and monitor a patient’s progress and mental wellness with lab tests, blood work, genetic testing, hair analysis, and more. It also engages patients more directly in their recovery, as they can see tangible progress and symptom improvement.
Community & Competence to Improve Patient Care
When you enroll in the Fellowship you receive access to a robust Psychiatry Redefined online community. This community is a powerful resource, providing practitioners with a private forum to discuss treatments, patient cases, test results, roadblocks and tools to help you build a strong functional and integrative medicine practice. The community alone is an invaluable resource featuring some of the best minds in the industry who are already successfully implementing functional and precision medicine strategies.
The Fellowship training from Psychiatry Redefined can significantly expand your clinical skills and intervention options (and efficacy!) in your treatment toolbox. With our Fellowship training you will:
- Improve your patient outcomes by identifying and treating the underlying root causes of mental illness
- Explore research-based protocols beyond standard medications and help your drug-resistant patients
- Rediscover your passion for mental health care and find greater career satisfaction
- Build a specialty mental health practice to meet high patient demand
- Reduce or eliminate medication side effects and symptoms
- Incorporate personalized medicine as a foundational component of treatment
- Share, discuss and learn with fellows, faculty and peers in the Psychiatry Redefined online community
Rediscover Your Passion for Mental Health Care
We got into mental health care to change lives. With functional psychiatry, we can finally deliver results and wellness to patients. And with that, comes the confidence and motivation to prevent burnout and inspire real change in the field.
If you are ready to be a part of this new precision-medicine paradigm and want to make a difference with your patients, consider our flagship Fellowship program. You’ll learn research-based, precision psychiatry approaches for testing and treatment. It will completely transform your practice and the lives of your patients.
