Beyond “medication management”
My patients want to work with a psychiatrist who uses interventions that extend beyond medications to help them.
My approach considers and incorporates:
Conventional Psychiatric Treatments: standard mental health medications and psychotherapy
Lifestyle Factors: nutrition, movement, sleep, and light exposure
Medical Context: nutrient deficiencies, genetic differences, and hormonal or medical issues that may contribute to psychiatric symptoms
Supplements and Natural Therapies: evidence-based supplements
Mind-Body Practices: mindfulness and meditation
Psychotherapy: “talk therapy”
Could it be my hormones?
🌸 In a short answer, yes! Times of hormonal change increase the risk of mental health challenges.
💉 With specific training in prescribing hormones in PMDD, perimenopause and menopause, if your symptoms are caused or exacerbated by hormonal changes, we can consider whether hormone therapy could help you.
🍃 However, there are many ways beyond hormonal therapies to help with symptoms. We can discuss other medications, evidence-based supplements, diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes.
Do symptoms have to be related to hormones to work with together? No! Thinking about hormones is just one example of how we would go beyond the surface to understand your current experience.
How it works:
Initial Evaluation
75 minutes ($500)
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After your free 15 minute phone consultation, you will fill out consent and history paperwork online through my secure electronic health record. We will schedule your 90 minute evaluation, in which we will review the issues bringing you in to see me as well as your history. At the end of the visit, we will discuss a provisional diagnosis and treatment plan that will help you meet your goals.
A treatment plan can include medication, supplements, laboratory testing, genetic testing, behavioral strategies, and psychotherapy. If further information or testing is needed and you are interested in medication, the decision about prescribing medication may be made at a follow up appointment.
If after this visit I don’t think I’m the best fit for your needs or you don’t want to continue working with me, I will provide you with referrals who would be better able to help you reach your goals.
Extended Follow Up
50 minutes ($375)
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patients wanting a longer, unrushed appointment time
more complicated treatment plan discussions that cannot be done in 25 minute appointments
Established Follow Up
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This visit length is for established patients and is used:
to discuss progress towards goals
to check in about medication progress and make medication adjustments
to follow up on lab or other testing results
25 minutes ($250)
FAQ
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I currently accept Aetna insurance for people located in New York.
Otherwise, I am what is considered an “out of network provider.” On request, I can provide a superbill for you to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. To determine how much your plan will reimburse, you can call your insurance company or visit their website.
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In order to determine your out of network (OON) insurance coverage, you can call your insurance company to ask if you have out of network insurance coverage. If you do, you can ask what your annual OON deductible is (that's the amount that you'll have to pay out of pocket before the insurance starts reimbursing you) and the rate of reimbursement after meeting the deductible (often between 50-80% depending on the plan). You can also ask them what the allowed amount is for the billing codes 99205, 99214, 99213, 90833, and 90836. My office zip code is 14886 if they happen to need that. The final piece of information that would be helpful to know is your out of pocket maximum (which is the amount of money that you pay out of pocket in total before your insurance starts reimbursing you 100% of all out of network costs).
For example: You might have an annual deductible that's $1000, which you pay in full. Then insurance will reimburse you 80% of the allowed amount of each visit until your total out of pocket maximum is reached, for instance $4000. Then, for the rest of the year, your insurance will pay 100% of the covered costs.
Of note, anything above the allowed amount per session will not be factored into these insurance calculations. For example, if the allowed amount from your insurance company is $125 for the billing code 99213 and I usually bill $225 for 99213 then you would be responsible for the difference of $100 per session, which will not be included in the insurance calculations.
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I work with women over 18 years old.
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Yes! Based on availability, I can be your therapist. When we use both medical interventions and psychotherapy, this is called “combined treatment.”
People looking to streamline their mental health care often enjoy the benefits of having the person they meet with often for therapy also be able to prescribe their medications or make recommendations about other biological interventions that would be outside the scope of a mental health therapist’s practice.
I often recommend weekly therapy in order to see the most progress.
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Yes. While some patients see me for combined treatment, I do work with patients who have a different therapist and am happy to collaborate with that person. I also frequently collaborate with couples therapists.
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Yes! I see patients in person near Ithaca, NY and online throughout New York State and Pennsylvania. Please note, I cannot prescribe controlled substances in Pennsylvania.
