Frequently Asked Questions About Deprescribing

No. We work alongside your prescriber, never in place of them. All medication changes are made in partnership with the physician or psychiatrist managing your care. Our role is to support, educate, and walk with you through the process, not to prescribe or direct medical treatment.

Not at all. Many clients come to us while they’re still deciding whether tapering is right for them, or before they’ve talked with their prescriber about it. We’re happy to meet you wherever you are in the process.

Tapering can be done safely for many people, but it should always be done thoughtfully and in partnership with your prescriber. Going too fast, or without support, is where real risk comes in. Our approach is built around minimizing withdrawal symptoms and pacing the process to your body and history. Because tapering is exceedingly difficult and each person’s experience is unique, however, we cannot guarantee that BFW will be able to help everyone taper completely off their psychiatric medications.

A rough stretch doesn’t mean the taper is failing. Symptoms during a taper rarely move in a straight line. Most people don’t feel a little better every day until they’re done. Instead, the common pattern looks more like “windows and waves”: a stretch of feeling more like yourself (“windows”), followed by a wave of returning symptoms, followed by another calmer stretch. For some people, withdrawal symptoms also persist for a time afterward (protracted withdrawal).

This up-and-down pattern is a normal and expected feature of the process for many people. It is not automatically a sign that the taper is failing, and it is not automatically a sign that it’s going well. A single bad day or a single good day rarely tells the whole story on its own. If symptoms ever become severe or frightening, contact your prescriber promptly.

No. We don’t direct medication changes. Decisions about changing any dose are always made between you and your prescriber. Our role is to support you through that process with education, pacing strategies, and coaching.

Some clients may not want to taper completely off their medication(s) but rather to minimize side effects. We support their informed decisions and will work with them to meet their goals.

Yes, absolutely. We welcome any members of your support system to attend coaching sessions with you. We recognize the value of your support system understanding the deprescribing journey.

No. Breaking Free Wellness is a Christian-led practice, and faith is part of how we approach whole-person care, but we welcome anyone who feels our approach could be a good fit for their journey.

We look beyond the medication itself, considering diet, lifestyle, emotional well-being, your support system, and, for many of our clients, spiritual grounding, all as part of supporting a sustainable taper and long-term well-being.

It varies significantly from person to person, depending on the number of medications, medication types, dosages, how long you’ve been taking them, and your individual response. Tapering safely can take months or, in many cases, years, so we can’t offer a reliable timeline.

Yes. We offer both in-person and virtual sessions.

The 15-minute consultation is $25. The initial session (2 hours) is $300. Follow-up sessions are $150 per hour or $75 per half hour.

Although coaching is not covered by HIPAA, we value your privacy and will guard your information as carefully as if it were. Craig and MarKay will discuss your care with each other for consultation, but we will obtain a signed release of information from you before discussing any information about you with your provider or anyone else.