Due to how delicate and complex each case is, the following description is only intended to over simplify a long and detailed process.
A psychiatric evaluation is a comprehensive assessment that helps mental health professionals like our psychiatrists & psychiatric nurses, understand your emotional, psychological, and behavioral health. The goal is to gather information about your mental well-being, including how you’re feeling, thinking, and behaving, so that the clinician can help identify any issues or concerns and offer support or treatment if needed.
- Your personal history (family, relationships, work, school, etc.)
- Any symptoms you’re experiencing (such as feelings of sadness, anxiety, mood swings, or difficulties sleeping)
- Your thoughts, behaviors, and how you’re coping with stress or difficult situations
- Any previous mental health treatment or medications you’ve tried
The evaluation may involve questions or conversation about your emotions, thoughts, past experiences, and sometimes a mental health screening or brief tests. It’s not a judgment of you, but rather a way for the psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse to get a clearer picture of what’s going on and how they can best help.
Think of it as an opportunity to discuss your mental health in a safe, confidential space, so you can work together to figure out what might be going on and the next steps for treatment or support, if necessary.
There are different types of psychiatric evaluations patients seek. We regularly offer an initial psychiatric evaluation, psychiatric consultation & follow up appointments to those who come seeking our services.
Initial Psychiatric Evaluation
This is the most common type of evaluation. It typically happens when someone first seeks help for mental health concerns. It’s a thorough assessment where the psychiatrists & psychiatric nurses gathers detailed information about:
- Your current symptoms (like anxiety, depression, or mood swings)
- Your personal and family history of mental health or medical issues
- Any past experiences with treatment (therapy, medications)
- Your emotional and social functioning (work, relationships, and daily life)
- Your mental state, including thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
The goal is to understand what’s going on in your life and how it might be affecting your mental health, so the psychiatrists & psychiatric nurses can offer a diagnosis or develop a treatment plan if needed.
Psychiatric Consultation
A psychiatric consultation is typically more focused and brief than a full evaluation. It’s often requested by another healthcare provider (like a primary care doctor) or for a specific concern. This type of evaluation may not go into as much detail as an initial evaluation but focuses more on providing advice or recommendations for treatment, medication, or further testing.
For example, if you’re being treated for a physical health condition and it’s unclear whether there might be a mental health component (such as depression affecting your physical health), a psychiatric consultation might help clarify that.
Treatment can vary with medication management with brief psychotherapy, supplements or a combination of the two. It is always best to contact the office via phone or email to provide further information and confirm if we are best suited to assist you.
Psychiatric Re-Evaluation or Follow-up
If you’ve already been diagnosed by our psychiatrist or psychiatric nurses and are undergoing treatment (like therapy or medication), our psychiatric providers require follow ups to be done in order to assess your progress. Our psychiatrist & psychiatric nurses will check in on how you’re doing with your treatment, how your symptoms have changed, and whether adjustments to the plan are needed or continued.