A Combination of Treatment Strategies Is Often Better than Just One

Therapies can complement and facilitate each other.

• Medication can facilitate other therapies because it can give the ability to concentrate and cooperate in other activities
• Psychotherapy can accomplish what drugs cannot - It can allow a lasting change in fundamental underlying beliefs and feelings.
• Behavioral therapy can establish patterns of beneficial activity, reinforcing insights learned in psychotherapy.

Peer Support activities can complement traditional therapies

• Receiving support from others who have had similar problems can be very helpful because they've been there. What worked for them may work for you.
• Giving support to others can enhance self-esteem
• Participation in networks and in advocacy on behalf of oneself or others is empowering
• Recent federally-sponsored research shows that people who augment traditional medical therapies with peer support activities, such as drop-in centers, report significantly better well-being than those using only traditional medical therapies.
• Conflict with traditional therapy is usually over:
  • Forced treatment including forced hospitalization and forced medication
  • Disagreement by some with the medical model of mental health care treatment

Recovery Model activities give more control over life

• Learning how to monitor one's triggers and early warning signs can make relapse less frequent.
• Deciding ahead of time what kind of treatment to have is empowering and enhances self-esteem
• Address as many dimensions of recovery as possible

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