Services
Services
I am a Harvard-trained and board-certified psychiatrist offering individual psychotherapy and medication management (pharmacotherapy) services to children, adolescents, and adults of any age. My goal is to help relieve suffering and promote wellness and individual growth. Towards that end I strive to provide evidence-based treatments, with a focus on accurate diagnosis and careful matching of treatments to individual goals.
For most patients, psychotherapy is the cornerstone of treatment. I provide both short-term problem-focused psychotherapy (chiefly cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT) and longer-term treatments. I'm not silent or a "blank slate," but the focus will be on you. As a physician, I am experienced working with patients who may have significant medical concerns or who take non-psychiatric medications. I work with each patient to determine whether medication is appropriate, weighing the risks, benefits, and alternatives to medications, including not taking medication at all. For patients already on medications, sometimes simplifying or decreasing psychiatric medications can help more than adding something new.
A therapeutic relationship with someone you trust is one of the cornerstones of psychiatric care, and so it is important to feel like you work well with whomever you decide to work with. Please feel free to contact me to see if we might be a good fit.
During our first visit we'll meet for around 90 minutes to allow time for a comprehensive consultation. I will want to hear in detail what's on your mind, and I'll also have questions to guide the discussion. In addition to learning about your psychiatric concerns, I will also ask about your medical history and overall health, as this is intimately linked to mental health. When appropriate, this may include evaluation of vital signs, review of laboratory values and medical imaging, and a neurological examination. One of the key goals of this session is deciding whether we are a good fit for ongoing treatment, and this first visit also gives you a feel for working with me. Sometimes the best treatment for a particular problem is with someone else — and if so, I will tell you.
If we mutually decide to continue working together, subsequent sessions will work on creating a collaborative treatment plan. In general, ongoing psychotherapy sessions last for 50 minutes, and are ideally at least weekly during the beginning phase of treatment. If you already have a therapist with whom you are working well, and decide to work with me only on medication management, subsequent sessions are generally 25 minutes.
Choosing to seek psychiatric care is a very personal decision, and I will respect your confidentiality as fully as the law allows. In general, the privacy of all communications between a patient and a psychiatrist is protected by law, and I will not release your medical information or discuss your care with anyone else without your express written permission. There are a few important exceptions. Imminent risk of suicide, inability to care for yourself, or clear intent to hurt others forces me to breach your confidentiality to maintain the physical safety of yourself or others. Suicidal or violent feelings—or any feelings—are not reportable in themselves, and indeed talking about such feelings in confidence can be the best way to defuse them. Additionally I am legally obligated to report ongoing child abuse, elder abuse, and disabled person abuse to the appropriate agencies. I will discuss such mandated reporter situations as part of our intake process.
As a solo practitioner, my records are never linked to records you may have anywhere else, and no one except me has access to them. Confidentiality is essential to psychiatric care, and my concern for your confidentiality is one reason I am not on insurance panels. Of note, if you choose to submit my sessions to your insurance company for reimbursement, they will require information about the frequency of our sessions and any diagnoses I have made. Likewise, if you choose to use insurance to pay for medication, your insurance company will know about which medications you are taking.
Like most psychiatrists in Boston who do not practice in hospital clinics, I am not in-network with any insurance companies. This means you will be responsible in full for your bill at the time of treatment. Many insurance companies offer out-of-network benefits that can significantly assist in payments, and you can read more about seeking out-of-network insurance coverage. Additionally, you can use benefits from a flexible spending account or health savings account, which allows you to pay for sessions using pre-tax dollars. I accept payment by credit card and check.