Exclusive Services
Treatment plans are unique to the individual and will be closely monitored and adjusted as needed for optimal outcomes. Medications will be recommended or offered when needed but are typically not required.
The first step in the process will be to come in for a psychiatric evaluation, which will be a 90- minute appointment. During this appointment, we go over your history in detail, talk about what is currently going on, and what your goals are, and decide on a treatment plan together. This appointment also allows both the provider and the patient to determine if they are comfortable moving forward as a team.
After that, you will have scheduled follow-up appointments to closely monitor how you are doing. Once you are stable and comfortable, the appointments are spaced out further.
*I am not a therapist, although I hope all of our encounters are therapeutic in nature. I do practice therapeutic strategies such as mindfulness, cognitive behavioral approaches, motivational interviewing, emotion focused, and acceptance commitment.
Anxiety Disorders
It is normal to feel anxious or worried in life in certain situations or for a brief time. When it continues or worsens it will start interfering with your relationships, work, and/or ability to function normally. There are different types of anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety, social anxiety, specific phobias, and panic attacks.
Depressive Disorders
Depression is a persistent feeling of sadness or feeling down that does not go away after a few days and interferes with your day-to-day life and relationships. There are many types of depression including situational, persistent, major, seasonal, perinatal/postpartum, premenstrual dysphoric, psychotic, and an aspect of bipolar disorder.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
ADD/ADHD
ADD/ADHD can include the inability to focus or pay attention, being overactive, and/or impulsivity that goes beyond what is expected for the person's age and developmental level. It typically starts in childhood and often persists into adulthood. It can be any combination of the three features that interferes with a person's ability to function normally in life.
Bipolar Disorder I & II
Bipolar disorder has distinct periods of changes/shifts in overall mood/behavior. Bipolar 1 has periods of mania (abnormally and persistent elevated, expansive, or irritable mood plus increased activity or energy) that last for at least a week. Bipolar 2 has periods of hypomania (a less severe mood elevation) and depression. Both forms of Bipolar disorder interfere with a person's life. Bipolar is not frequent shifts in mood that occur during the course of a day.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD
PTSD is a condition that can occur after someone experiences or witnesses a traumatic or life-threatening event. Not everyone that has experienced trauma will develop PTSD. Some symptoms of PTSD include having flashbacks and/or nightmares, avoiding certain places/situations/people, being easily startled, having intense feelings, dissociation, and more.
Anger Management
Anger is a normal emotion but it can also be very problematic and interfere with your life. When you find your reactions to situations are much stronger than others and you have a hard time controlling the anger or acting impulsively it may interfere with relationships, and jobs, and may lead to legal problems. When anger is an issue, there are outbursts of anger that occur once a day, week, or month and between the outbursts feelings of anger and irritability are more prevalent.
Psychosis Related Disorders
Psychosis may stand alone or be a part of other disorders or medical conditions. The positive symptoms of psychosis are delusions (false beliefs that cannot be changed despite evidence against them) or hallucinations (experiencing things that are not there) which may be seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, or smelling. The negative symptoms may include not caring, minimal speech, lack of motivation, social withdrawal, and minimal facial expression. Both thoughts and feelings are disrupted and positive symptoms must be present. This is seen in schizophrenia, mood disorders, substance use, medical problems, delirium, and dementia.
Your Mental Health Concerns
You may have no idea what is going on or it may not fit in one of these "boxes". No matter what your concerns are, they will be evaluated and addressed during the psychiatric evaluation and/or follow-up appointments.