Many counseling clients take psychiatric medication. Counselors do not prescribe, but they can explain the basics, notice side effects and warning signs, support clients' choices, and work as a team with prescribers. This lesson shows what each major medication class does in the brain and the body, which diagnoses it treats, typical adult dose ranges, common and serious side effects, when to refer, and how culture and equity shape medication care.
For learning only, not medical advice. Never start, stop or change a medication without talking to the prescriber. Stopping some medications suddenly can be dangerous. In an emergency, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988. For a possible poisoning or overdose question, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.
Counselors work within their scope of practice and competence (ACA Code of Ethics, C.2.a). Medication decisions belong to the client and the prescriber.
Most psychiatric medications change communication between neurons at the synapse. See it in 3D in Synapse to Symptom and the Neuron Lab. Tap each card.
Choose a medication class to see where it acts in the brain and the body, which diagnoses each medication is approved for, typical adult doses, and side effects to know.
About the doses: these are typical adult daily ranges from U.S. FDA prescribing information, rounded for teaching. Children, older adults, pregnant people and people with liver, kidney or heart conditions often need different doses. The prescriber sets each person's dose. Brand names are examples. Check DailyMed for current labels. Last reviewed November 2026.
Put each medication in its class. Generic names come first, with an example brand name.
If a client describes these signs, help them contact the prescriber right away, or call 911 if symptoms are severe. Tap each card.
Across 11 U.S. health systems, rates of diagnosis and treatment differed by race and ethnicity (Coleman et al., 2016). Black patients are more often diagnosed with psychotic disorders and less often with mood disorders, which shapes which drugs they get.
Liver enzymes such as CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 vary between people and across ancestral groups, so the same dose can mean different blood levels. The HLA-B*1502 gene, more common in people of Asian ancestry, raises the risk of a severe rash with carbamazepine, so testing is recommended before starting it.
Many people of African and Middle Eastern ancestry have naturally lower white blood cell counts (Duffy-null associated neutrophil count). Treating this as a lab problem has kept Black patients from clozapine, the most effective drug for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.
Stigma, faith, family views, past medical racism (see Race, Myth and Medicine), cost and insurance all affect whether people start or keep taking medication. Ask, listen and problem-solve without judgment.
Plan a conversation with a fictional client about their medication, and the questions they want to take to their prescriber. Do not use real client information here.
Videos and peer-reviewed articles published in 2016 or later. Links need an internet connection.
A former NIMH director on mental disorders as brain circuit disorders.
A personal account of depression, including medication and therapy.
A ready-to-teach lesson where students use the explorer, practice red-flag cases and role-play medication conversations.
