This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Wednesday, January 25th,

2003. I'm Caleb Brown. What is the experience required to be a prescribing

psychologist? And what are the politics of entering that field.

Claudia Mosher is a prescribing psychologist practicing in both Illinois and

Louisiana.

We discussed how she helps patients and why state policy makers should expand the ranks of prescribing

psychologists.

We spoke at the Cato Institute's State Health Policy Summit earlier this month.

This is the second of two conversations on the subject.

We are used to having to get a doctor's appointment to receive medication,

to have a doctor write a script.

That script is then sent to a pharmacy, we go to the pharmacy,

we pick it up in some states. For some medications, you can have a nurse practitioner prescribe certain categories of medications, but for

mental health care it's psychiatrists and physicians for the most part.

We've faced a pretty substantial mental health crisis

that was made worse by a global your experience? You are a prescribing psychologist.

What has been your experience in attempting to help people

secure their own mental health?

Well, becoming a prescribing psychologist was a bit of a journey, but I have to say

that I'm so glad that I took the time and put the energy into it to learn how to become a prescribing psychologist because I have a unique way

or not just me of course but all of the prescribing psychologists and medical psychologists have a unique way of being able to help people in that I have what I call the luxury of time

because I can see patients for if they need 55 minute hours. I can work both at the same time with medication management and

...