Psychiatric Services
Our psychiatrists and advanced nurse practitioners are board-certified and diplomate-level physicians who supply psychiatric evaluations and medication management services.
Our physicians use a conservative, evidence-based approach to medication management to supply long-term relief for patients suffering from a variety of mental health concerns, for example: ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety.
Our physicians believe that psychotropic medication can be profoundly beneficial, and that the best outcomes are usually achieved by using medication to reduce distressing symptoms while helping individuals adapt to the unique challenges in their daily lives. Our team has developed a balanced and practical approach to medication management aimed at minimizing the dosage and number of medications necessary to achieve the desired outcome. Decisions about medication should be made after a careful and collaborative discussion between you and your prescribing provider. Prescription medications can be helpful as a stand-alone treatment, or in combination with other clinical interventions.
Our team believes that, in many cases, medication treatment yields better outcomes when combined with other non-pharmacological interventions. Our team may recommend combining medication with the following interventions, all of which are available at our practice:
- Psychotherapy, sometimes referred to as “talk therapy,” has been shown to be helpful for a variety of mental health issues including depression, anxiety, stress, trauma recovery, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and ADHD. Psychotherapy may involve specific modalities such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
- Behavioral medicine. This is an interdisciplinary approach to wellness that may include: psychotherapy, or TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) Therapy.
Medication can be used to commonly treat:
- Depression, anxiety, mood swings
- Bipolar disorder
- Recurrent unwanted thoughts
- OCD
- Sleep difficulties and insomnia
- Anger, irritability, grief
- Attention, concentration, ADHD
- Phobia, PTSD
Everyone responds to treatment in their own unique way. In the case of psychiatric medication, recent scientific discoveries have led to a new understanding of how a person’s genes impact how their body and mind respond to medication. Pharmacogenetic analyses allow our psychiatrists to tailor treatment of the individual patient, an approach that has been shown to yield faster improvement with fewer side effects.
What to expect when meeting with your psychiatric med provider for a psychiatric evaluation
A request to fill out a medical history including past experiences with medications prior to your visit. This can be done in the comfort of your own home with your permission as a chance to ask family members for help. Your provider will investigate this prior to the visit. It is important to consider as much data as possible as your prescriber formulates the most proper diagnosis and best treatment options.
During the appointment, a board-certified psychiatric medication provider like a physician or nurse practitioner will conduct a psychiatric evaluation, that includes an interview (lots of questions) that collects information about behavioral or emotional symptoms of the patient, along with their medical, emotional, and social history. With your permission as the patient, family members may also be interviewed to help understand the patient’s symptoms and history. A mental status examination is conducted that involves questions about current symptoms related to thoughts, cognition, and memory. The medication provider will discuss a diagnosis and seek the patient’s input to help create a treatment plan. Psychiatric medications may or may not be recommended to help reduce emotional or behavioral symptoms.
How long will the appointment last?
Usually, 1 hour will be distributed to your first appointment.
What is a prior authorization?
Under medical and prescription drug plans, some treatments and medications may need approval from your health insurance carrier before you receive care.
Prior authorization is usually needed if you need a complex treatment or prescription. Coverage will not happen without it. That’s why beginning the prior authorization process early is important.
Ask your health care provider if a prescription or medical treatment is going to require prior authorization so they can start the process at once.
This is not the same as if you need more treatments or prescriptions after your first visit. In that instance, you may need to get a medical necessity review, or “authorization.”
When will I be seen again?
If your medication provider accepts your case and you agree to treatment, then you will likely be seen once per month for several months. When you are feeling better for several months, you will likely only need to be seen a few times a year or when something changes.