Antidepressant medications are the most popular treatment for depression in the United States, despite the fact that there may be more effective and safer alternatives. This paper discusses alternative, effective psychological interventions for unipolar depression. Studies that compare and contrast psychological and pharmacological treatments for depression are highlighted. Evidence suggests that psychological interventions, particularly cognitive behavior therapy, are at least as effective as medication in the treatment of even severe depression, for both vegetative and social adjustment symptoms, and especially so when long-term follow-up is considered. Highly effective marketing strategies by pharmaceutical companies have tended to blur this evidence. Some suggestions are offered to help the clinician deal with the pharmaceutical media blitz and distinguish science from advertising. Clinicians are urged to resist the temptation to deliver an apparent quick fix in the form of a pill despite pressure from the medical establishment, the media, and even the patient. People underestimate the power and cost-effectiveness of a caring confidential psychotherapeutic relationship in the treatment of depression. The data indicate that there is no stronger medicine than cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy for depression. (Contains 71 references.) (RJM)