"In the past two years, prescribing psychology (also known as clinical psychopharmacology or medical psychology) has started to expand with increasing momentum. The first prescribing psychologists graduated from training in 1994, but this effort was initially constrained to a pilot program of 10 military psychologists, prescribing only in military treatment facilities. However, as with a multitude of military inventions and initiatives, prescribing psychology is being adopted by the nation and is viewed as a partial solution to a number of the country's mental healthcare problems."
"Part of the current increase in momentum is the evidence for safety and efficacy, which is starting to become more robust as research emerges from states with prescribing psychologists. In 2025, researchers compared patient safety outcomes between physicians and psychologists in New Mexico and Louisiana (the first two states to grant prescriptive authority to psychologists) in the areas of adverse drug events, psychiatric emergency department use, medication adherence, and psychotropic polypharmacy."
Prescribing psychology has expanded substantially in recent years after an initial 1994 pilot that trained ten military psychologists to prescribe within military treatment facilities. A severe mental health provider shortage and dangerous access-to-care gaps have driven legislative changes and the development of training and infrastructure to support prescriptive psychologists. Emerging research from states with prescriptive authority provides growing evidence for safety and efficacy. A 2025 study comparing physicians and psychologists in New Mexico and Louisiana found similar outcomes for adverse drug events, psychiatric emergency visits, medication adherence, and psychotropic polypharmacy. Patient panels for prescribing psychologists closely parallel psychiatrists, increasing access to specialty mental healthcare across multiple states and federal services.
Read at Psychology Today
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