Friendly, thorough, nonjudgmental ADHD & full psychiatric services
ADHD EVALUATION AND TREATMENT
This obviously is our focus here at Advantage ADHD & Psychiatry Services. This is what you can expect at your first appointment:
A detailed interview exploring a history of your symptoms, including what you’ve been experiencing (inattentiveness, difficulty focusing, distractibility, etc), how long have you been experiencing them, and how have they affected your day-to-day functioning now or in the past.
Screening tools to help identify patterns of behaviors suggestive of ADHD.
We may ask to get collateral information from family members or teachers. This might include a phone call to these individuals during your appointment, or a screening form that you take home to have them fill out and bring to their next appointment. Parents can print and have their child’s teacher fill out the Vanderbilt form to assist us in this interview and bring to the first appointment.
We will have you complete a standardized computer test called QB Check that measures the core symptoms associated with ADHD, including hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention.
We ask for all individuals age 14 and older to provide a urine sample during their first appointment if receiving a prescription for a stimulant, and then occasionally after that. Many pharmacies are requiring this prior to allowing patients to fill their first prescription of a controlled substance, so this helps us to reduce delays in getting you the medications you need. Please click here for FAQ if you’d like more information about this policy.
Last, together we will discuss your results and what interventions (medications or otherwise) would be we feel would be most helpful or appropriate for you.
TREATMENT FOR ALL
OTHER PSYCHIATRIC CONDITIONS
We treat ALL psychiatric concerns, not just ADHD. We specialize in psychopharmacology, more commonly called “medication management.”
Medications are an important part of treatment for many mental health conditions. We will work as a team with you to select the safest and most appropriate medications for your symptoms. None of this “take this medication because I said so” kind of business – instead, we will educate you of a few different options for medications, including pros and cons of each option (also known as “risks and benefits”) and let you make the ultimate decision for yourself.
Why do we use this approach? Mental health is very individual, and so a person’s medications should be too. Some people like a more aggressive approach to their medications. They’re okay with a quick increase of doses, or taking more medications rather than less in hopes they will feel better quicker. Other people like a more conservative approach with a “less is more” mentality toward their pills. Neither approach is right or wrong. We will give you some options, let you know our preference or recommendation, but you are the final decision-maker
PSYCHOTHERAPY
We focus on medication management, but we want to get to know you outside of just “how are your medications working for you.” Mental health challenges don’t exist in a vacuum, so we will ask you about your life, your work, your family, your relationships, your current life stressors. We’re not trying to pry – we care for you and want to offer a sounding ear so you can unload a bit! External life stressors certainly contribute to a person’s mood, so we want to understand what’s going on around you.
We try our best to offer solutions or ideas to help you carry your heavy load – but we are not therapists. We highly recommend that anyone seeing us for medications also have an outside therapist – even if it’s just a quarterly check-in to “check the air in the tires” kind of thing. We can give you referrals or recommendations to wonderful therapists if you need.
TELEHEALTH APPOINTMENTS
It may be called telehealth, telemedicine, or telepsychiatry but it all means the same thing – psychiatric appointments over Zoom or another HIPAA-compliant computer program. We offer a hybrid practice consisting of both in-person and telehealth appointments.
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Some people prefer in-person appointments and are welcome to come into our office in East Mesa. Others prefer the convenience of telehealth. This tends to work best when we have your medications in a good place and you feel stable.
Please note that no controlled substances will be prescribed without an in-office appointment first, so if you want to be evaluated for ADHD or are coming to us on any controlled substances (such as Adderall, Ritalin, Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, etc), you should plan on having your first visit in the office with us.
SERVICES WE DO NOT PROVIDE:
We are a solo-practice with a one-person admin staff. We think we’re excellent in what we do offer, but we aren’t equipped to offer everything.
Unfortunately we do not provide:
➜ Case management and/or wrap-around services
➜ Partial hospitalization
➜ Intensive outpatient programs
➜ Treatment for eating disorders
➜ Forensic evaluations
➜ Disability evaluations
➜ Care for patients under the age of 6
➜ Care for patients outside the state of Arizona
➜ Workers Compensation
➜ Autism evaluations
➜ Emergency or walk-in psychiatric services