Yet another article was published recently that touted the positive effects of psychotherapy.  In this study the authors noted that psychotherapy was as effective as antidepressant medication at treating and preventing relapses of depressive episodes.  Of course the side effects from psychotherapy are much less than those from medication, which is nice.  But what made this article special was that it was published in JAMA Psychiatry.  Yup, one of the best professional publications for psychiatrists said that medications are not better that psychotherapy.  This is great for several reasons.  First and foremost, it’s a wonderful demonstration that the ever-increasingly medicalized field of psychiatry is willing to acknowledge the benefits of non-medical approaches.  Of course the content of the article is great too; there are many people who cannot tolerate psychiatric medications or simply do not want to use medicine to treat their psychological issues, and this (and many other) article(s) supports these individuals in not caving in to popping a pill to rid themselves of psychological pain.  Now, please don’t get me wrong… in no way am I opposed to appropriate use of psychiatric medication.  However, I am very frequently disappointed by medical professionals who prescribe antidepressants, sleep aids and antianxiety medications without considering empirically validated better options first or at least in conjunction with the medications.