Please note the change of date from 4 December 2025 to 5 March 2025
Nearly one in five Australians fill a script for psychiatric medication each year, and it can be a significant challenge to safely stop taking these medications if they are no longer needed. A major challenge is identifying when to stop medication and how to do so safely, to minimise the risk of relapse and withdrawal.
A better understanding of the pharmaceutical effects of psychiatric medications has led to the development of the Maudsley Guidelines, a new evidence-based approach to deprescribing psychiatric medication that aims to minimise withdrawal, relapse, and unnecessary reinitiation of medication.
Dr Mark Horowitz will provide valuable insights into the hyperbolic tapering approach outlined in The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines: Antidepressants, Benzodiazepines, Gabapentinoids and Z-drugs to safely reduce or stop the use of psychotropic medications, whilst managing withdrawal symptoms and ensuring patient safety. Endorsed as an accepted clinical resource by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the Guidelines address a crucial gap by offering clinicians clear guidance on the safe reduction or discontinuation of these medications.
Whilst Psychologists in Australia cannot prescribe or deprescribe, it is useful to be familiar with medications your clients may have been prescribed and likewise to be aware of practical difficulties implementing the hyperbolic/proportionate approach to tapering presents.
About our presenter: Dr Mark Horowitz, MBBS PhD
Dr Mark Horowitz is a training psychiatrist, having done part of his training in Australia and now working in London as a Clinical Research Fellow in the NHS, and an Honorary Clinical Research Fellow at UCL. Mark also completed a PhD in the neurobiology of depression and the pharmacology of antidepressants at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, and during that time received two prizes from the British Association of Psychopharmacology, one for his PhD work and one for public communication.
Mark is working with NHS England to provide resources on deprescribing psychiatric drugs for all NHS prescribers in England. An expert in psychiatric medication withdrawal, he wrote the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ guidance on Stopping Antidepressants and his work informed the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on this topic.
Webinar timing: 7:00 – 8:00 pm AEDT
Access to the recording of this webinar: A recording of this webinar will be available through the CPD Webinar Library, but for the best experience and the opportunity to ask your questions, join us live. Everyone who registers will be advised via email as soon as the recording is available. Members have unlimited access to the recording, and non-members will have access for 6 months.