Collaboration among US, Thai psychiatrists

Thailand has scarcely 600 psychiatrists. The US has 35,000 psychiatrists. But, as in Thailand, most mental health professionals practice in urban areas with large parts of the country under-represented and under-served. 

The goal of the AAPDP is to promote the practice of psychotherapy in addition to using tools of biological psychiatry such as medication treatments. Talk therapy, in the form of psychoanalysis, originated in Europe at the turn of the 20th century, but had been used by physicians and healers all over the world for centuries before that. Listening attentively and providing emotional support can be exceedingly comforting. 

Buddhism and psychoanalytic theory clearly interface in many ways, and both the AAPDP and faculty at Chulalongkorn wonder how to creatively bridge the service gaps to be able to provide necessary attention to the mental health needs of those afflicted with distress caused by anxiety, depression, guilt, shame, grief, and those severely traumatised by life events. 

I look forward to further developing these collaborative efforts and think creatively to more effectively reach out to larger segments of our population.

Cesar A Alfonso

President of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry

New York