Psychiatric Medications: An Overview for Paraprofessionals

Course Code: REL-BHC-0-PMAOP

Hours: 1.5

Type: Online Course

Content Expiration Date: 8/31/2025

Learning Objectives:
Summarize how you can support the individuals you serve with their medication regimen.
List the major types of psychiatric medications.
Describe potential side effects of psychiatric medications.

Outline:
Section 1: Introduction

About This Course

Learning Objectives

Section 2: Medications and Mental Illness

Meet Margot

Medications for Psychiatric Disorders

Why Do I Need to Know This?

Questions to Ask About Medications

Types of Psychiatric Medications

Reducing Errors

Safety Checks

What if There’s a Mistake?

Monitoring Clients

Urgent Signs

Stopping Medications

Multiple Medications

Medications and Pregnancy

Review

Summary

Section 3: Antipsychotic and Mood Stabilizer Medications

Psychosis

Antipsychotic Medications

Side Effects of Antipsychotics

Serious Side Effects

Quick Check

Mood Stabilizers

Review

Summary

Section 4: Medications that Treat Depression, Anxiety, and ADHD

Signs of Depression

Antidepressants

Urgent Signs

Makeeda is Worried

Antianxiety Medications

Medications Used to Treat ADHD

Review

Summary

Section 5: Conclusion

Summary

Course Contributors

Resources

References

Congratulations!

Instructor: Monique Kahn, Psy.D.

Monique Kahn, Psy.D. received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Florida. She completed a pre-doctoral internship at Spokane Mental Health in Washington, which included specialty rotations in behavioral medicine and time-limited psychotherapies. She is licensed as a psychologist in Maine, where she was in private practice for 14 years, providing services to adult clients with varied presenting issues, but with particular emphasis on the treatment of anxiety disorders, the relationship between psychosocial stress and illness, insomnia, and coping with chronic illness. She has taught in the undergraduate psychology program at Husson University in Maine. In addition, she has worked as a content writer and psychology subject matter expert for several major educational publishing firms. She joined Relias as a clinical content writer and subject matter expert in 2016.

Expert Reviewer: John Cahill, MD, PhD

Dr. Cahill has experience in community psychiatry across both the UK and US healthcare systems. He specializes in building Learning Health Systems for early intervention and 'safety net' behavioral health services - towards better-value, person-centered, integrated care for individuals with severe mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders. After completing medical school in the UK, Dr. Cahill undertook both psychiatry residency and advanced clinical research fellowships at Yale, with a focus on knowledge translation, from the community to the lab, and vice versa, particularly in the study and management of psychotic disorders and their complex interaction with cannabinoids. He is board-certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. His work is founded on respect for the patient and caregiver experience, addressing the whole person, judicious prescribing practices and embracing a complex adaptive system perspective. His research interests involve using unifying principles and translational approaches to develop novel biomarkers, treatments, technologies, clinical guidelines and resident curricula for the care of psychotic disorders. He is faculty of both Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Nursing.

Target Audience:
The target audience for this course is: Direct Support Professionals; in the following settings: Health and Human Services.

Relias Learning will be transparent in disclosing if any commercial support, sponsorship or co-providership is present prior to the learner completing the course.

Relias Learning has a grievance policy in place to facilitate reports of dissatisfaction. Relias Learning will make every effort to resolve each grievance in a mutually satisfactory manner. In order to report a complaint or grievance please contact Relias Learning at support@reliaslearning.com.

Course Delivery Method and Format
Asynchronous Distance Learning with interactivity which includes quizzes with questions/answers, and posttests.