Psychopharmacology

This chapter provides a brief overview of aspects of psychopharmacology with particular relevance to clinical psychology. First, the relevance of basic psychopharmacology to conceptualizing diagnosis and assessment of mental disorders is discussed. Second, the relevance of clinical psychopharmacology to the management of mental disorders is addressed. Finally, the question of how best to combine or integrate pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in the clinical management of mental disorders is considered. The chapter attempts to take a balanced approach, emphasizing that advances in psychopharmacology and integrated treatments have been scientifically exciting and clinically useful, but also acknowledged how much remains unknown. A particularly exciting area of translational neuroscience is focused on how specific psychotherapeutic techniques may be enhanced by targeting relevant pharmacological mechanisms. More broadly, work on the integration of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy is consistent with pluralistic approaches to understanding and managing mental disorders; such approaches emphasize that multiple causes play a role in pathogenesis of mental disorders, that both explanation of mechanisms and understanding of meanings are key in clinical work, and that integration of different modalities of treatment may be useful. Psychopharmacology is particularly instructive insofar as it helps drive more integrated approaches to mental disorders, advancing our knowledge of underlying psychobiological mechanisms and their response to multimodal treatments.