What should you expect meeting me?
To meet a psychopharmacologist, aka Psychiatrist in Boston, currently operating exclusively via telehealth for all residents of Massachusetts, who can be your "medication management" doctor (with or without a therapist), or, if your needs include a "one-stop" preference, where you would prefer to see me for both, your treatment plan is yours for a reason, to be tailor-made for your mental health wellness needs (if I think the level of psychotherapy you require is too "heavy," I will let you know immediately, so you can make the best choice for yourself, whether a separate therapist would be of benefit, in my expert opinion).
Furthermore, that you would be walking into a virtual environment, free of judgment or reproach, to speak to a doctor about precisely what troubles you--untethered by the fears that often keep us silent, often leaving us to trudge along, barely content to live onwards with lives of quiet desperation.
Do you spend far too long pondering the road not traveled? Regret is one of the most difficult emotions to process, but only if you allow it to consume you. Did you know anxiety and excitement are physiologically identical bodily responses, separated only by our perception and subjective sense of how we are handling external stimuli?
Even in a field of "special" doctors, I still pride myself on marching to the beat of my own drum--as long as it is in the patient's best interest. Sometimes that might not be pleasant: I have been described as "blunt," and that seems to serve me but also burns me, yet honestly is not a box left unchecked from my end. If you need to be told something isn't working, the last thing you will be buying for my expertise is silence, you deserve better than that! Help me to help you to know yourself.
I might have specific recommendations on medications to benefit you, but it is called informed consent--I inform you to the best of my ability, and you consent to the medication--or don't. See my page for my specific policies on when I will prescribe controlled substances. Then if still unsure, please call the office for more details at 617-841-3620 to speak to my administrator; she can answer the question, or otherwise pass along the question to me for an answer and call you back with the answer ASAP, or schedule you for a quick 10-15 minute free phone consult with me. Let's talk it out!
The only thing you need to bring with you to an appointment with me, to be successful treatment, is a desire to change the trajectory of your life, coupled by your willingness to provide effort and rigorous honesty, to myself, and more importantly, to yourself.
The entire first session, and sometimes a portion of the second, it's mostly gathering and reviewing your own history, medical and psychiatric specifically.
What I seek is a human connection, often overlooked, that is crucial to developing a therapeutic alliance with a patient who is trusting me with their life, as well as most inner, scary, sometimes darkest thoughts. Not something I take lightly, while simultaneously attempting to penetrate that darkness with a touch of levity and humor, lightening the mood by showing that if the doctor does not take himself too seriously, you can start to relax before getting into the "heavy" stuff at the crux of your problem. I'll joke! I'll laugh! But I will also listen. I am judiciously humorous, while gravely serious, when appropriate. I will tell you exactly what I believe you need to hear, to better your life.
If you are looking for a standard prescription writing robot who spends less than 5–10 minutes with you, only to disappear faster than you can say "what's my diagnosis again," um, plenty of such are out there, elsewhere.
Hope to meet you soon!
P.S. if you have PPO/POS/EPO health insurance (Blue Cross, Tufts, Optum have such plans--not their HMOs, sorry), you likely have out-of-network benefits, and if you are not familiar with how to use them, please refer to my website, (luminousvitalitybh.com), on the "fees/insurance" section, for navigational tips, to have your insurance reimburse you, and to discover how much they will, even prior to our first visit!
