Dr. Gruen is a Board Certified,
Diplomate-Fellow in Advanced Psychopharmacology (FPPR/FICPP) of the
International College of Professional Psychology.
In order to obtain certification,
practicing psychologists must complete over three-hundred hours of special
training in psychopharmacology and related sciences.
Dr. Gruen spent the equivalent of
two-three years in training, beyond that of other, similar mental health
professionals (including clinical psychologists) to learn how medication may
best be used to effectively relieve patient suffering from emotional or mental
health problems. Dr. Gruen has passed over seventeen different examinations
in many subjects, including but not limited to, Anatomy and Physiology of the
Brian, Drug Effects and Drug Interactions of the Child, Adolescent, Adult and
the Geriatric Patient, and Ethics, as well as training in a wide and
comprehensive variety of other academic and practicum subject areas. Such
training helps in understanding appropriate directions to take within the scope
of practice of a licensed psychologist, with both the patient and the
prescribing medical doctor working on the case.
With the addition of this special
training in Psychopharmacology and Related Sciences, Dr. Gruen has acquired
specialized knowledge of the efficacy and safety of various medicines, their
side effects (if any), and the interaction that can exist between other
medication that you may be taking. Such knowledge makes Dr. Gruen a health
care professional of the highest-caliber with whom you may wish to talk over any
concerns you may have about the medicines you have been prescribed.
Dr. Gruen is especially able to talk
knowledgably with your prescribing medical doctor, to help you to understand why
you were given these particular medications, and what advantages and setbacks
you may expect from their use. Dr. Gruen, being trained extensively not
only in pharmacology but in traditional psychotherapeutics, is in the unique
position to most comprehensively understand the significance of the interactions
between psychotherapy and psycho pharmacology, and how the benefits of these two
approaches may best combine and complement one another for the most effective
treatment.
