What should you expect meeting me?
That you would be walking into a virtual environment, free of judgment and/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 begrudgingly continue, barely content to live onwards on our 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, allowing that to continue. Help me to help you to know thyself!
I might have specific recommendations on medications to benefit you, but it's called informed consent--I inform you to the best of my ability, and you consent to the medication--or don't. What I am NOT obligated to do is start or continue medications ala carte or at your request "because you like/need it" or you know that it works for "your cousin with ADHD." See my page for my specific policies on when, if rarely, 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 5-10 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. For while deception might be successful on others, moral boundaries notwithstanding, it is NEVER fully successful on oneself--because even if you convince part of yourself into thinking you are"doing OK," you will be left with this niggling and un-scratchible itch, the voice of your better angels, telling you that you can do better and should be striving for it!
How many more excuses can you give yourself to not even try? None of us is guaranteed tomorrow.
The entire first session, and sometimes a portion of the second, it's mostly gathering and reviewing your own history, medical and psychiatric specifically.
If you are looking for a conventional/traditional "stoic" psychiatrist that would've been on television 20-30 years ago, kindly look elsewhere. 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," I'm proud to tell you that you have come to the wrong place, very much to your benefit.
Hope to meet you soon!
