PSY7330 provides doctoral psychology students with the pharmacological knowledge that informed clinical practice requires. Understanding how psychoactive drugs work at the synaptic level, what behavioral and cognitive effects they produce, and what the empirical evidence says about combining medication with psychotherapy enables psychologists to serve as effective collaborators with prescribing professionals, informed advocates for their clients, and competent practitioners who understand the full range of evidence-based treatments for mental disorders.
Mechanisms and clinical applications of psychoactive drugs
Core topics
- Synaptic transmission and neuromodulatory systems: How neurons communicate chemically — the major neurotransmitter systems (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, glutamate, acetylcholine) and their receptor subtypes, the mechanisms of agonism and antagonism, reuptake inhibition, enzyme inhibition, and how drugs exploit these mechanisms to alter brain function
- Drug effects on cognition, sleep, and perception: How different psychoactive substances affect cognitive processes (attention, memory, executive function), alter sleep architecture, produce perceptual distortions, and modify consciousness — both therapeutic applications and problematic side effects
- Pharmacological treatment of depression: Antidepressant drug classes — SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs, MAOIs, atypical antidepressants, and emerging treatments (ketamine, esketamine) — their mechanisms of action, evidence base, onset of action, side effect profiles, and the research on combining antidepressants with psychotherapy
- Bipolar disorder and mood stabilizers: The pharmacological management of bipolar I and II — lithium (mechanism, therapeutic monitoring, toxicity), anticonvulsant mood stabilizers (valproate, lamotrigine, carbamazepine), and second-generation antipsychotics as mood stabilizers — and the challenge of managing the depressive phase without triggering mania
- Anxiety disorders and anxiolytics: Pharmacological treatments for generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, PTSD, and OCD — benzodiazepines (mechanism, tolerance, dependence), buspirone, SSRI/SNRI applications in anxiety, and the relative efficacy of medication versus psychotherapy (CBT) for anxiety conditions
- Schizophrenia and antipsychotics: First-generation (typical) and second-generation (atypical) antipsychotic drugs — the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia, D2 receptor blockade, the atypical drugs' broader receptor profiles, extrapyramidal side effects, metabolic risks, and the evidence for combining antipsychotics with psychosocial interventions
- Childhood psychiatric disorders: Psychopharmacological treatment of ADHD (stimulants, non-stimulants), pediatric anxiety and depression, and autism spectrum disorder — developmental pharmacokinetics, FDA approvals and off-label use, monitoring requirements, and the evidence for combined pharmacological and behavioral approaches in children
PSY7330 assignments include pharmacology literature reviews, drug mechanism analyses, and combined treatment evaluations
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Frequently asked questions
Most psychologists do not prescribe medication, but most of their clients do take psychotropic medications prescribed by psychiatrists, primary care physicians, or nurse practitioners. Psychopharmacological literacy matters for several reasons: psychologists who understand medication mechanisms can have more informed conversations with prescribers when coordinating care; they can recognize when a client's symptoms may reflect medication side effects, drug interactions, or inadequate treatment response rather than psychological factors alone; they can educate clients about the evidence base for combined treatments; and they can help clients make informed decisions about whether to pursue medication evaluation. Additionally, the research literature on psychotherapy increasingly uses psychopharmacology as a comparison condition or adjunct — understanding those studies requires knowing what medications do and how they work. PSY7330 provides the non-prescribing psychologist with the pharmacological knowledge to be an effective participant in collaborative, interprofessional mental health care.