Quick FAQ
Q. What kind of psychiatric care do you offer?
A. I offer comprehensive mental health care including psychotherapy, medications when indicated, and collaborative development of a “mental wellness” plan that identifies things for you to do that will empower you to maintain good mental health and well-being. You should be ready for some of these things to be challenging. Read more on the approach page.
Q. Will you see me just for medications? I already have, or don’t feel like I need, a therapist.
A. I do not see people for medications only. Fortunately, there are many excellent psychiatrists in the area who do see people for medication management only. Some suggestions for finding one can be found here.
Q. Do you see children and adolescents? Geriatric patients?
A. My practice is limited to adults. While I do see some older adults, issues specific to the geriatric age group (such as cognitive decline) are best treated by a psychiatrist with geriatric specialty training, which I do not have.
Q. Do you take my insurance?
A. I do not participate in any insurance networks. If you are looking for an in-network psychiatrist, the best place to start is to get a list of in-network providers from your insurance company. While many of those lists are sadly out of date, they are a much better place to start than calling individual psychiatrists and asking one by one. In general, psychiatrists in the Mid-Atlantic who provide psychotherapy are almost never in-network.
Q. Will my insurance cover you as an out-of-network provider?
A. It depends on your insurance plan; reimbursement for a portion of your costs is often available. Contact your insurance company to find out what your specific plan covers.
Q. Are you accepting new patients?
A. My practice is currently closed to new patients. When time becomes available to see new patients, I will indicate that with a notice at the bottom of each page on this site.
Q. Do you have evening or weekend office hours?
A. I am in the office Monday through Friday; I do not have weekend hours. I do have evening appointments on some weekdays. Those hours are often full, so it is generally easier to find time during the day.
Q. Can you recommend someone else? I need a psychiatrist who does meds only/takes my insurance/has openings.
A. These are good questions, and I am actually not the best source to answer them. An excellent resource is the Maryland Psychiatric Society, which maintains a database of Maryland psychiatrists including their location, practice interests and some insurance affiliations as part of their “Find a Psychiatrist” program. Call them at 410.625.0232 and they will be happy to help you.
Q. I am not in the Baltimore area. Can I work with you via Skype or phone?
A. It depends what you are looking for. I can only offer psychiatric care to people with whom I am meeting in person. If you are interested in a consultation or coaching on personal issues, goals or life concerns, I do offer those services via distance technologies such as videoconferencing and telephone. Please understand that such an arrangement is not medical care, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship, and is not covered by insurance.
Q. Do you see couples? Families?
A. I do work with couples. I currently do not do family therapy.
Q. You say you do integrative psychiatry. Does that mean that you do specialized testing and prescribe supplements, herbs and other alternative therapies in addition to or instead of regular medications?
A. The term “integrative” is used in many different ways. Some practitioners use the term to indicate that they focus on extensive nutritional and hormonal testing, frequently prescribing supplements. I do not practice in that model. I use the term integrative to mean paying attention to, and integrating, all areas that affect mental health and well-being, including mind, brain, body, spirit, relationships, culture and environment, rather than limiting focus to symptom management.
Q. You mention that you integrate attention to spirit in your work. Do you work from a particular spiritual or religious perspective?
A. My work is not oriented to a specific spiritual or religious tradition. If your spiritual path, religious belief or tradition is an important source of meaning in your life, or if you sense that paying more attention to the spiritual side of life would be beneficial for you, we will honor that and will likely incorporate that into our work together in order for your experience to be as valuable as possible to you.