Mental Health Evaluation & Treatment

Initial Evaluation
Your initial evaluation is the critical first step to getting help.  The fact that you have come for the appointment means you are ready to gain a new perspective and take action.  For this important event, I devote a minimum of 1.5 hours, which allows me to take a careful history, understand how you are currently functioning, reach an initial formulation and diagnosis of your problem, and make recommendations for your treatment.  During this appointment there is ample time for you to feel free to ask questions, seek clarification, and express your preferences or concerns.  The goal of the initial evaluation is for you to have a new understanding of the nature of your problem and learn how it can be helped.  We'll discuss whether therapy or medication, or possibly both, will be most helpful to you. 

I may ask you to have a checkup by your primary care doctor to rule out medical problems that may be triggering your emotional or behavioral problems.  Or, I may simply ask you to obtain certain laboratory tests to rule out common conditions, such as thyroid dysfunction, that may present as a psychiatric problem. 

Treatment

If you decide to pursue treatment with me, for therapy or medication, we will make follow-up appointments for regular sessions lasting 50 minutes. 

Therapy
All talk therapies, i.e., psychotherapies, have in common a collaboration between the therapist and patient that facilitates new learning.  What is learned depends on the specific technique.  I provide several kinds of therapy including insight oriented dynamic therapy in which patients come to view their own history with new meanings; cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), in which patients develop new patterns of thought and action to replace maladaptive old ones; and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), used for trauma, which neutralizes the negative impact of past events.  Taking an active role in your therapy enhances its successful outcome.  This includes working on your issues both during and between sessions. 

Medication
Today a wide array of medications can be effective for many psychiatric problems.  Should you need, and choose, this kind of treatment, I will inform you of its potential benefits and side effects and will guide you closely in its proper use.  Your questions will be answered before taking the medicine, and at every point along the way.

The choice of medication and its dose needs to be individualized.   Under certain circumstances, I may ask you to obtain a genetic test that can assist in choosing a medication and dosing it.  After the first day of taking a new medication, or after a dose change, I will ask you to telephone me to make sure it "agrees with you" and to make adjustments for any side effects.  Most psychiatric medications take time to work.  Regular follow-up appointments are essential to optimize the dose and gain maximum benefit. 

Sometimes therapy and medication can work together to achieve faster and more complete success.    

Contact me at (347) 501-2010 and ask about the range of mental health treatments I provide.