In your free consultation we will get to know each other and discuss what you’re looking for in a treatment provider and what your gorals and expectations are.
In this consultation we’ll go over how you and/or your child can achieve your goals and whether you feel that it will work for you.
If you find that I may be a good fit, we’ll go over fees and talk about how best to prepare for you/your child’s intake evaluation.
We’ll then schedule the 110-minute evaluation. You’ll be given a link to fill out the intake forms which will be reviewed prior to your evaluation.
It’s very nerve-wracking, and courageous to seek help when you and/or your child are in a vulnerable state. In this evaluation we will go over you or your child’s history, background and problems.
This is why I promise to do my best to make you and/or your child feel comfortable, validated and heard. I can’t stress that enough.
We will discuss your major complaints, a psychiatric “review of symptoms” where I ask about depression, anxiety, thoughts of suicide, self-harm, sleep, appetite, past and current trauma and other symptoms. We make sure that you or your child are currently safe.
We will go over childhood history, education and work history, relationship history, your past and current psychiatric history. medical history, family history of psychiatric and medical problems.
We have to make sure that you, or your child, don’t have any medical conditions that can contribute to anxiety and depression, such as thyroid conditions, vitamin deficiencies, anemia and so forth. Therefore, labwork may be indicated to make sure you’re not having medical problems.
We talk about what has worked, not worked in the past for you and/or your child. Collecting all this information, we both will see what you feel the most comfortable with, as long as it’s safe and effective.
It takes way more than 2 hrs to get to know someone (even a lifetime), so we are sure to leave things out, which is why I’d like you to write things down that we didn’t go over, and questions you have for our future follow-up visits.
Finally, if you need clarification, ask ask ask! It’s crucial that you understand the rationale, side effects, expectations of the treatments and what to do when encountering problems.
In your follow-up visit we will review what was discussed at the last session and go over how you and/or your child have been doing and if any issues came up. That’s why it’s vital that you have everything written down for our session so nothing will be missed.
If you or your child are taking medications/supplements, we will go over if they are working/not working, side effects, and adjust if needed.
If you weren’t able to do the homework, we’ll adjust that too and strategize to make it easier and more convenient for you.
It’s important that you don’t feel bad – there are rows and rows of self-help books, and thousands of YouTube videos all to troubleshoot drinking enough water, something that we all struggle with!
Lastly, we go over any questions you have and clarify.
If you’re in a true emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
If you have an issue that can wait until the next business day, contact me by voice, text, or email whichever you feel the most comfortable with.
I will check messages once a day except on weekends and holidays.
Tuesday: 2pm-7pm
Wednesday: 2pm-7pm
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