Psychiatric consultations in New York City

At our New York City-based practice, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and psychiatric nurses can provide psychiatric consultations. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who go to medical school for 4 years, studying all fields of medicine. Then, psychiatrists complete at least 4 years of residency specializing in psychiatry. Psychiatric nurse practitioners go to nursing school for two years where they focus on nursing generally. Next, they complete at least 2 years of advanced study as nurse practitioners specializing in psychiatry. Some nurse practitioners also go on to obtain a doctorate degree as a psychiatric nurse practitioner and may have the title “Doctor.”

The specialization in psychiatry for both psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners includes medical knowledge in the assessment and treatment of mental health conditions. They must also have specialties in prescribing psychiatric medications as well as training in psychotherapy. At our practice, we also have psychiatric nurses who work with us as clinical interns, who can be seen at a lower fee. They are already board-certified, registered nurses and are currently finishing their programs to become nurse practitioners. As they are clinical interns, they can see you in a psychiatric consultation while supervised by our psychiatrist or nurse practitioners.

For most mental health inquiries or conditions, psychiatric nurse practitioners have sufficient expertise. Psychiatric nurse practitioners are able to assess, diagnose, order and interpret lab testing, prescribe medication. They are also able to engage in therapy and work through other holistic methods. So, in most cases, either a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner will be a good fit.

In cases where there may be significant medical complications affecting the psychiatric condition, working with a psychiatrist may be helpful. If this is the case, we suggest at least getting a consultation from a psychiatrist, as they have training in a broad range of medical conditions outside of psychiatry, and are a better fit for medically complicated cases. At our practice located in New York City, we have a psychiatrist as well as psychiatric nurse practitioners. So, if you choose to work with a psychiatric nurse practitioner, you can still obtain a consultation from our psychiatrist as needed during your treatment.

Some people may choose to have their initial consultation with our psychiatrist, who will provide an initial assessment. Then, the psychiatrist will recommend a nurse practitioner within our practice who would be a good fit for your treatment. In other situations in which someone might have financial concerns or a pretty straightforward case, a psychiatric nurse would be a good fit. This is especially since our psychiatric nurse practitioners receive training, supervision, and guidance from our senior clinicians. Additionally, any prescriptions are sent in by the supervising clinician on the case.

Many mental health conditions have typical patterns in which they present. Although each person has unique experiences and may present different symptoms, it isn’t difficult for a psychiatric provider to come up with a diagnosis. They will look at the big picture of your life and how your symptoms have progressed to identify the most likely diagnosis. Of course, there are cases that are not so clear, in which it may take multiple sessions and gathering more background knowledge to figure out what is going on.

However, for the most part, a thorough history and exam can often yield at least one of the diagnoses within the first or second session. For most people, if they are suffering from a mental health condition, they often have more than one diagnosis. Mental health conditions typically occur together. For example, having anxiety and depression, or depression and ADHD, or autism spectrum and anxiety. At times, it may take multiple sessions to get a sense of the whole clinical picture. But typically, in at least a couple of sessions, your psychiatric provider can diagnose your most prominent condition and begin treatment.

If your symptoms don’t clearly fit into a diagnosis, you are not alone. In fact, we find that most people don’t easily fit into boxes of symptoms. A psychiatric diagnosis lists a constellation of types of symptoms, of which most people will have some, but not all. To meet the criteria for a diagnosis, you need to have a certain number of symptoms for a certain duration or frequency of time. Additionally, the symptoms must negatively affect your ability to function.

Many people have symptoms that fall short of the exact criteria. Likewise, many people have symptoms in multiple categories, each falling short of the diagnostic criteria. For instance, you may have some symptoms of anxiety, depression, and ADHD, but not meet the criteria for any of these. At the same time, the symptoms may still be affecting your function, and your quality of life would be much better if they were treated. In these cases, we may say that you have depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, or some distractibility and inattention. Whereas the typical diagnosis would be a depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, or ADHD. Of course, our team would still work with you to treat the symptoms that are impairing your life, as our goal is not necessarily to put a label on what you’re experiencing. Instead, our goal is to understand which difficulties are interfering with your life and develop strategies to overcome them.

Yes! Medication is only one treatment option, and it is not for everyone. At our practice in New York City, we will offer a well-rounded treatment plan with multiple strategies and treatments. So, even if you are not interested in medication, you could still benefit from our other suggestions. In cases where we feel that medication should be an important part of your treatment, we will share that with you. However, we will respect your wishes as to whether you want to follow our recommendation or not.

Sometimes just one session can be enough to give you a sense of what is going on and a tentative plan to improve. If your symptoms are mild enough, then you can continue on your own while following the treatment strategies recommended. On the other hand, if your symptoms are more than mild, it is often helpful to continue working with a psychiatrist or other psychiatric provider for a while to treat them.

If you are already working with someone outside of our practice, you could also just come in for a session or two and we can give you or your provider feedback from our consultation. Or sometimes, you may not be interested in treatment at the moment, but you still want answers about what is going on from a trained professional. So, a psychiatric consultation could provide that without you having to continue in treatment.