Our Approach is Integrative Care
We provide empathically, person-centered, evidence-based assessments, support, and treatment. We partner with you to integrate the physical, mental, emotional, social, environmental, and spiritual aspects that impact your, or your child’s, health and wellness. Our goal is to provide the least invasive, and most benign, effective intervention and support, based in good science, to facilitate the body’s innate healing response. The core of effective support involves having a detailed account of the current situation, to understand existing concerns and their severity.
Assessment
In most cases, we conduct pre-consultation structured interviews, and we use our own questionnaires to gather more specific information. This way, when our psychiatrists conduct the intake evaluation, they already have a detailed understanding of your current situation. During intake, our psychiatrists then review all the relevant concerns, clarify any missing details, and prepare to outline the support plan. This process may take 1-2 sessions.
Our intake evaluation is focused on current concerns, and potential actionable steps we can take to address them. We gather information on individual and family history. This may include perinatal and birth, developmental, emotional, environmental, interpersonal, spiritual, and social history; school or work
performance; and medical history, including allergies, genetics, and physical symptoms throughout your whole body.
Laboratory Tests
We may conduct extensive laboratory tests that may include: complete blood count, liver, kidney, thyroid, and in certain cases comprehensive infectious screenings. We may test for Lyme disease, streptococcus (PANDAS), and other bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections.
Genetic Markers and DNA sequencing
Our practice is unique due to our long-established experience with testing and interpretation of genetic information. We have developed and patented pharmacogenetic tests to predict side-effects and treatment outcome. We may conduct genetic tests to ascertain underlying metabolic and other genetic disorders, as well as the body’s ability to metabolize certain medications.
Comprehensive Testing
Our team of experienced psychologists are available to perform comprehensive testing to assess learning, social-emotional, cognitive, and other differences. We offer neuropsychological, psychological (including social-emotional), psychoeducational, developmental, giftedness (including ‘2E’), and admissions testing. Testing is available for individuals of all ages.
Quantitative Electroencephalogram (qEEG)
Electroencephalography (EEG) is the measurement of electrical patterns at the surface of the scalp which reflect the activity in the underlying brain cortex, referred to as “brainwaves”. Quantitative EEG (qEEG) is the analysis of the digitized EEG that helps to create a “brain map,” which may assist and even augment our understanding of brain function. The qEEG information can be used as a clinical tool to evaluate brain function, and to track the changes in brain function due to various interventions such as neuromodulation, psychotherapy, neurofeedback, and/or medication.
Support & Treatment
Sleep and Exercise
The importance of restorative sleep as an integral part of any treatment strategy cannot be emphasized enough. We may evaluate your sleep through the use of “wearable” devices, or, if necessary, through a sleep study. Consistent exercise is strongly recommended for cardiovascular health, and to aid sleep. It has also consistently been demonstrated that exercise is crucial to overall wellbeing. Exercise can help regulate mood, attention, stress/anxiety, and inflammation. We emphasize exercise that is reasonable and appropriate for each situation. This may range from walking slowly around the block to intense daily training.
Diet and Your Microbiome
We believe in a dietary guideline that will help you understand what factors do and do not contribute to your wellbeing, in order to aid decisions, to feel better, and to regulate healthy weight. We pay special attention to the gut microbiome (the good bacteria living in your intestines). Certain dysbiosis (alteration of the normal gut flora) could have an impact on mood and overall wellbeing. We may discuss the use of pre and probiotics, especially the natural ones, to improve mental health through gut health.
Pharmacology and Supplements
We generally consider non-pharmacological interventions to begin with, but when symptom severity calls for it, we can deploy a whole host of pharmacological interventions to treat and prevent symptoms in children, adolescents, adults, and seniors. Based on our extensive clinical and research experience, we can incorporate pharmacogenetic markers, qEEG, and other predictors of medication treatment success. We selectively use supplements to enhance certain metabolic pathways that may be causing symptoms due to deficiencies. The most common example of this is vitamin D deficiency, a frequent problem in our area, that has an impact on mood, energy, and infections.
Psychotherapy
We have a team of psychologists, psychotherapists, expressive arts therapists, and life coaches that provide empathic therapy for children, adolescents, adults and seniors, including individual, group, parenting, couples, and family support. Our providers utilize a variety of individualized, evidence-based modalities, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, Psychodynamic Talk Therapy, and other supportive psychotherapy. We also offer care based in expressive therapies, such as art, drama, and music. Telehealth services are available in some circumstances, including for parent coaching.
Neuromodulation
Pharmacological interventions attempt to change brain chemistry. Through the use of neuromodulation, we synergize this pharmacological effect through the use of small, targeted currents. Neuromodulation can also be used without simultaneous pharmacological interventions. We offer novel treatments, with FDA approved or cleared devices, that stimulate or inhibit specific brain areas or circuits that are known to be involved in disorders such as Depression, OCD, ADHD, PTSD, Tourette’s, and Anxiety. We offer Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), External Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation (eTNS), and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).
Virtual Reality
We offer virtual reality treatment that has shown to be helpful in fear of flying, animal and insect phobias, social anxiety, ADHD, sports performance, test anxiety, and public speaking. It is also FDA approved for pain management and Fibromyalgia. Through the use of high resolution, virtual reality (VR) goggles we can create controlled exposures to varied situations.
Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback is a form of non-invasive brain training in which, through the measurement of “brainwaves,” feedback is introduced during a specific task or activity, so that the participant can develop and improve the ability to self-regulate. Typically, we place sensors on the scalp to measure the electrical activity of the underlying brain cortex, with measurements displayed using video displays or sound. This method has been used for multiple diagnoses, and had been shown, through research, to be most beneficial in ADHD, specifically for improving impulsivity and inattention.