Combining pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy: A Swiss survey

Among the 964 Swiss psychiatrists who answered a survey on the extent and t he conditions under which different types of treatment were used in clinica l practice. 94% indicated that they practiced combined pharmacological and psychotherapy treatment. Combined treatments ranked first before analytical ly inspired psychotherapies, short-term psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy al one. This procedure was mainly carried out in the public sector. more often by men and less often by psychiatrists in private practice. Psychiatrists with a biological practice profile were much more prone to using combined t reatment than those with a psychoanalytical one, and psychiatrists adhering to the so-called eclectic model of treatment were more frequent users than those ascribing to the psychological model. The authors then comment on th e different possible combinations of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, the advantages and disadvantages of combined psychotherapy and the problems ar ising in collaborative psychotherapy. They Finally give some recommendation s on how to overcome the difficulties.