Most therapists were never properly taught psychopharmacology.
Yet every week, you sit with clients who are taking medication, stopping medication, thinking about medication, or struggling because of medication.
This workshop is designed to bridge that gap.
Psych Meds Decoded is a practical, clinician-focused training that explains how psychiatric medications actually work, using clear, memorable frameworks that make sense in the therapy room — not just in a textbook.
This is not a prescribing course.
This is a
therapy-informed medication course.
It will help you understand what medication is doing to your client’s brain, emotions, behaviour, and therapy progress — so you can respond more effectively as a therapist.
Led by Dr Al Griskaitis, Psychiatrist, and Jess O’Garr, Clinical Psychologist, this workshop covers:
- How antidepressants actually work (beyond the serotonin myth)
- Understanding different classes of psychotropic medications and their indications
- Why emotional numbing happens
- How to identify when psychotropic medication may be blocking progress in therapy
- Red flags that suggest medication might need review
- A practical, clinician-friendly framework to discuss medication issues with clients
- When medication may be helping therapy
- When medication may be interfering with therapy
- The side effects and withdrawal considerations relevant to therapy
- How to collaborate effectively with prescribing doctors
- How to help clients make informed decisions about medication
- Real-life clinical examples demonstrating how medication interacts with therapy progress
This workshop bridges the gap between psychiatry and psychological practice, giving clinicians practical tools to navigate conversations about medications confidently — without stepping outside your professional boundaries.
Why This Workshop Matters
Many clinicians feel unsure when:
- A client says their medication “isn’t working”
- A client feels emotionally numb
- A client is more anxious after starting medication
- A client wants to stop medication
- A client asks, “Do you think I should be on meds?”
- A psychiatrist changes medication and the client suddenly changes in therapy
- Therapy has stalled and you suspect medication may be part of the reason
Most therapists were trained to either:
- Avoid talking about medication, or
- Tell the client to “talk to their doctor”
But with the majority of our clients on medications, this leaves us out of the conversation.
This workshop teaches you how to confidently work in that space.
What Makes This Workshop Different
This is not a lecture on drug names and dosages.
Instead, we teach medication through a simple, practical framework that explains how medications affect:
- Emotional sensitivity
- Mental arousal (racing thoughts vs fog)
- Physical arousal (anxiety, panic, agitation)
- Motivation and drive
- Sedation and sleep
Once you understand these five dials, psychiatric medication suddenly makes sense and you can start to see why:
- Some clients feel numb
- Some feel flat and tired
- Some feel wired and anxious
- Some can finally engage in therapy
- Some get worse instead of better
You will start to see medication not as “good” or “bad”, but as something that changes the conditions in which therapy happens.
