1: AT and others

Adventure Therapy, a less well-known use of mental heath treatment draws in similarities and differences between more traditional mental health treatments.  As defined by Gass, M.A., Gillis, H.L., Russell, K.R. (2012), Adventure Therapy is the prescriptive use of adventure experiences provided by mental health professionals, often conducted in natural settings that kinesthetically engage clients on cognitive, affective, and behavioral levels. With that definition in mind I decided to pick two treatments that I had heard more about and one that intrigued me to compare it across.  The first treatment was the use of medication.  The typical drugs used according to the Mayo clinic staff are antidepressant, mood-stabilizing, anti-anxiety and antipsychotic medications.  The use of these medications is similar to AT in the fact that it affects clients on a cognitive, behavioral and affective level.  I feel like medication is different in the fact it is a lot less of a personal approach to treatment.  Although drugs as a treatment seem to be an appropriate motion in some situations, I feel as if human interaction and personalized treatments seen in treatments like AT sometimes goes undervalued.  With this personalized treatment comes a greater time commitment than a medicated treatment, which some could consider a drawback to the situation.  Another approach to mental health treatment is residential treatment programs. Residential treatment programs use a hands on approach like AT but typically take place in a more structured setting.   They are also similar to residential treatment centers because there is a varied length of stay between the two.  The last form of treatment, which I didn’t know much about, was brain stimulus treatment. According to the National Institute of Mental Health a common form of brain stimulus treatment, electroconsvulsive therapy (ECT) is pain free and has a negative depiction that is often misleading.  This procedure is similar to AT in the fact that it involves mental health professionals but differs in the fact it takes place primary in a medical setting and is generally a faster process.  ECT usually is administered three times a week and the patient is often done with treatment within six to 12 treatments.  Although there are clearly differences between types of therapy I believe that each treatment is best determined on an individual basis.

References:

National institute of mental health. (2009, November 17). Brain Stimulation Therapies. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/brain-stimulation-therapies/brain-stimulation-therapies.shtml

Hazelden. (2013). Residential treatment centers.  Retrieved from http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/residential_addiction_treatment.page

Mayo Clinic staff. (2010, September 1).  Treatment and Drugs.  Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mental-illness/DS01104/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs

Gass, Michael A., Lee Gillis, and Keith C. Russell. (2012).  Adventure Therapy: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York: Routledge.