patientsFirst, a comprehensive diagnostic psychiatric evaluation of presenting symptoms, mental health history, medical and family history, interpersonal relationships and early childhood experiences, lifestyle habits and spirituality will be completed. Together, a treatment plan will be created with a focus on the Body, Mind, and Soul.

I no longer practice solely in the conventional manner of symptom management with long term use of pharmaceutical medications, without investigation of the root causes. Long-term outcomes are significantly better when an in-depth assessment of the current biological functions is completed. Testing is an important part of making a proper diagnosis and treatment plan.  Having adequate data to guide treatment is critical for the best long term outcomes. Without data from testing, individualized treatments targeted and root causes of symptoms becomes a guessing game. Testing saves time and improves long-term outcomes. Current conventional medicine practice clusters symptoms to make a medical diagnosis according to the DSM-IV, then a pharmacological treatment is picked by practitioners as a best guess, based on FDA guidelines.  Most psychopharmacological research has a 5-45% efficacy rate, established over about a 8-12 week period of time. This system does not provide any explanation to the root cause of the imbalances and dysregulation of neurotransmitters and the symptoms caused by those imbalances. Depression, Anxiety, ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Chronic Fatigue and Pain syndromes can be caused by genetic and environmental interactions from food sensitivities and microbiome disruptions. The specialty tests are not covered by insurance because they are considered investigational.  If you have an HSA, that may be used. A test kit will be mailed to your home and you will ship it back. Serum testing  can be done at a lab that may be covered by your insurance, but you will need to verify your benefits and coverage. The initial cost may seem high, but the cost of ongoing medication management of symptoms to quality of life and overall health, without resolution of symptoms is also very high.  The investment in these tests are an investment in long term health and wellness and disease prevention.

Through my years of ongoing education and practice, and through the discovery of research that has been deliberately concealed and downplayed.  Researchers were forced to expose their data that had been actively hidden. This research data has been the standard accepted by managed care facilities and practitioners and has been used to guide current practice guidelines and policies. I am no longer comfortable with the approach of long term use of medication and seek to help those that would like to begin to taper and eliminate the need for medication. The research that has guided conventional best practice guidelines is mis-leading because negative reports results were not reported and data was skewed. Research does show that antidepressant are not better than placebo, exercise, or the natural course of most episodes of depression.  True informed consent would include informing  of this data and the acute and long term risks of antidepresasant medication, which results from our body attempting to compensate to regain homeostasis, creating changes in the brain that can have long s long lasting effects.