Home / Care
How Care Works
Care that starts by actually asking.
Sixty minute evaluations, medication management, and supportive therapy for ages 13 and up.
Home / Care
How Care Works
Sixty minute evaluations, medication management, and supportive therapy for ages 13 and up.
A lot of people arrive here having already had the twelve minute appointment.
You filled out a form in a waiting room, someone glanced at the score, and you left with a prescription and very little sense of what was actually happening to you. It is not that the person did not care. There simply was not time.
This is built differently, on purpose.
What to Expect
Here is what an evaluation actually covers, so that none of it is a surprise.
When this started and what was happening in your life then. How it has moved since. What you have already tried, and what each attempt did or did not do.
When you go down, how long it takes, what wakes you and at what hour. Snoring, morning headaches, sleep that never feels restorative. A great deal gets found here, and sometimes a sleep study matters more than any medication.
Not only the low stretches. Any period of elevated or irritable mood, needing less sleep than usual, or moving faster than usual. This changes what is safe to prescribe, and it is the single most commonly missed piece.
Whether difficult experiences are part of this picture. You are never required to narrate anything in a first visit. Saying that something is there is enough to shape the plan.
Thyroid, iron, B12, vitamin D, blood sugar, hormonal changes, and any medication you are already taking that can cause these symptoms on its own. Several conditions imitate depression convincingly, and ruling them out comes first.
You get told what I think is going on and why, in plain language, with the reasoning shown. The plan may be behavioral, may involve medication, may involve labs or a referral. Often it is a combination.
If Medication Is Part of It
What it is for. How long before you would expect to notice anything. Which side effects are common in the first two weeks. Which ones mean you should call me. And how you would come off it if you decided you wanted to.
Anyone starting you on a psychiatric medication without covering those has not finished the visit. Medication is also not a foregone conclusion. A good evaluation sometimes concludes that it is not the answer here.
Fees and Insurance
An optional fifteen minute call to determine if we are the right fit for each other, before you commit to anything.
Available through insurance via Headway, or self-pay with a superbill provided for out of network reimbursement.
Scheduled at a pace that fits where you are, more often at the beginning and less often once things settle.
Aetna, Cigna, United, Optum, Carelon Behavioral Health, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Curative, Ascension Smart Health, and Providence Health Plan, subject to plan availability in your state. Your copay is confirmed before your first visit.
Common Questions
You need to be physically located in Maryland, Washington DC, Arizona, or Idaho at the time of your appointment. Not living there permanently, just present for the visit. That is a licensing rule rather than a preference of mine.
Your psychiatric care is protected health information. It is not reported to your employer, and in routine practice it is not disclosed to a clearance process or a licensing board simply because it exists. If your situation makes this a real question, ask me directly at the first appointment.
There is no threshold you have to cross first, and it is not a queue you would be taking a place in. The people who wait until they meet their own private standard of bad enough usually arrive having lost years they did not need to lose.
Yes. Supportive psychotherapy is part of the practice, and for many people the plan involves both. If what you need is longer term specialized therapy, I will say so and help you find the right person.
Yes, and it usually produces better care. With a signed release I coordinate directly and send a note after the evaluation and after any meaningful medication change.
Ages 13 and up. For patients under 18, a parent or guardian is part of the process, and we talk openly at the start about what stays between us and what does not.
When You Are Ready
Start with the free consult. Fifteen minutes, no pressure, and you decide what happens next.
Three ways to start. Pick whichever fits your situation.
Telehealth only, for patients physically located in Maryland, Washington DC, Arizona, or Idaho at the time of the visit. Not an emergency service. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.