Common mental health concerns encountered in outpatient naturopathic settings include depression, anxiety, OCD, and psychosis, among others. Following a brief review of the evidence base supporting established protocols for mental health management, the presentation will focus on scenarios that reproducibly arise yet often go undiscussed in formal presentation settings. Such scenarios include but are not limited to important considerations during a mental health intake, specific prescription medications that present significant obstacles when implementing standard weaning protocols, specific medications not generally considered as having mental health impact yet pose significant mental health obstacles when attempting to wean, and the basis for hyperbolically reducing doses of prescription mental health medications to minimize withdrawal symptoms.
December 3, 2024; 1:00 – 2:00 PM EST
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lecture, the clinician will be able to:
- Obtain working knowledge of the evidence base in support of commonly employed integrative medicines in the management of mental health concerns
- Obtain working knowledge of critical considerations while conducting a mental health intake
- Develop an understanding of obstacles associated with weaning of common mental health prescription medications
- Identify a small subset of prescription mental health medications that pose obstacles to weaning beyond those encountered with most prescription mental health medications
- Identify prescription medications not typically considered to have mental health impact that do create significant mental health obstacles when attempting to wean
- Understand why hyperbolic weaning of prescription mental health medications is critically important for achieving clinical success
CE Credits
CONO: (pending approval) Category A – 1.00 credit (General)
British Columbia: Category C – 1.0 credit
AANP: (pending approval) 1.00 credit (General)
OANP/OBNM: For Oregon attendees seeking OBNM approved CE credits, please note that this event has not been submitted for approval to the OBNM. CE certificate will be issued upon individual request.
Dr Philip Rouchotas, ND
Dr Rouchotas practices at the Bolton Naturopathic Clinic in Bolton, Ontario. His areas of clinical focus include metabolic syndrome (overweight/ obesity, diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension), autoimmune concerns (arthritis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis/eczema/acne), mental health concerns, and autism. Philip is also an Associate Professor with the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), responsible for assimilation and delivery of the second year curriculum in Clinical Nutrition. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Integrated Healthcare Practitioners, a peer- reviewed journal reaching ND’s, MD’s, and DC’s across Canada. Philip graduated from CCNM in 2004, preceded by an honours undergraduate degree and Masters of Science degree, both from the University of Guelph in Nutritional Sciences.
