Dr. Greenberg works in the obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders program, and I see both kids with tics and OCD or OCD-related disorders as well as those with symptoms consistent with pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) or pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS). She typically sees two to three new patients a week who fit somewhere in the OCD, tic, or PANDAS spectrum.

As marijuana has gained acceptance—it can now be prescribed to treat a wide variety of medical conditions in 28 states and Washington, DC—there has also been a shift in attitudes toward other mind-altering substances that, despite their reputation as drugs of abuse, show promise as therapeutic agents.

Ms. Petitt’s manages the program that selects and trains researchers for the MDMA-assisted psychotherapy protocols MAPS Public Benefit Corporation is conducting. The program has reviewed 300 applicants, and is in the midst of training 80 people who will work on therapy teams for Phase 3 trials. In addition to the training program, Ms. Petitt has also served as co-therapist on the MAPS-sponsored Phase 2 trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with life-threatening illness.

The basic goal of this kind of research is to try to find an association between a genetic variant and the clinical response to a particular medication. Given that there are dozens of medications to choose from for any given disorder, it would be very helpful if we could do a genetic test that would tell us which drug is the best for a particular patient.

Complementary and alternative medicine is gradually becoming more mainstream, and we covered some of these treatments in a recent issue of TCPR, but we didn’t cover yoga and meditation. Sudarshan Kriya yoga (SKY) is a meditation technique that combines yoga poses, sitting meditation, and breathing exercises.

More and more children are expressing to their parents questions, worries, or declarations about their gender. Dr. Ehrensaft's experience at the Child and Adolescent Gender Center is that medical, mental health, educational, and legal expertise all contribute to optimal care of gender patients. In this article she describes that care.

Dr. Raskin discusses strategies when dealing with prescription-seeking patients, including common scenarios for helping clinicians decide whether a patient requesting opioids is endorsing more pain than they actually have.

How do PDMPs work? To search for a patient in a PDMP, all you need to do is enter the person’s name and birthdate and click the search button. The PDMP will generate a patient activity report that will tell you what controlled substances the patient has picked up and where. The report gives you lots of detail, including the address of the patient; the drug names, doses, quantities, and refill information on any controlled substances that have been dispensed; and the applicable prescriber names, DEA numbers, pharmacy names, dispensing dates, and prescription numbers.

The author, Dr. Massoumi, is an integrative holistic psychiatrist. She combines the conventional care of psychiatric medications and counseling with non-medication treatments, including supplements and electromagnetic devices, and have had good success. In this article, she reviews some of my practices and discuss various nutritional and herbal supplements that you might consider prescribing for your patients.

Dr. Massoumi is one of the most nationally prominent psychiatrists teaching about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments. In this Expert Q&A she discussses cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES), with a focus on Alpha-Stim.