REFRESH DALLAS · INITIAL EVALUATION
The first visit is the long one.
Most psychiatric care goes wrong at the very beginning, when a provider you've never met before has fifteen minutes to figure out what's happening and what to do about it. We do the first visit differently because the rest of the work depends on it.
In-network with most major insurance · Same-week availability · Psychiatric specialists
THE SERVICE
What it actually is.
The initial evaluation is one long appointment, scheduled before we make any decisions about your care. We use the time to take a real history. What's going on now. What's happened before. What medications have been tried, what worked, what didn't. Family history. Sleep, substances, hormones, life circumstances. The questions that determine which condition you actually have, and which approach makes sense for it.
It is also the visit where you decide whether this is the right practice for you. We listen, we explain what we're seeing, and we tell you the truth about what treatment can and can't do.
WHAT TO EXPECT
How the visit actually runs.
Before the visit, you'll complete an intake form on our patient portal. Bring whatever past records you have, including prior diagnoses and current medications with doses. If you don't have records, that's fine. We work from what we can gather.
The visit itself happens over secure video. You'll be on screen, we'll be on screen, and the conversation is what you'd expect from any first visit with a psychiatrist who is paying attention. There is no checklist we're running through. There are questions, and the next question depends on what you just said.
By the end of the visit we'll have a working picture of what's going on and a direction for what comes next. That direction might be medication, or it might be something else: a different kind of care, more information we need, or a referral that makes more sense for where you are. We name it plainly and tell you why.
WHO THIS IS FOR
People starting over, or starting right.
People who are new to psychiatric care and want to start with a real evaluation rather than a fifteen-minute med check. People who have been in care elsewhere and want to start over with a provider who will actually listen. People whose current treatment isn't working and need someone to look at the whole picture again.
Adults and adolescents are seen for initial evaluations across Texas. For younger children, reach out. Whether we're the right fit depends on the specific situation and the provider.
FAQ
Questions.
Long enough to do the work. We schedule generous time so we are not rushing through the history that the rest of your treatment depends on.
No. You can schedule an initial evaluation directly through our intake process. If your insurance requires a referral for behavioral health, we'll let you know during scheduling.
We are in-network with the major Texas carriers. We verify your coverage before the visit so you know what your share will be. Most patients pay only their copay.
That's a fine outcome of a first visit. You'll leave with a working diagnosis and a recommendation, and you can take both elsewhere. Care that fits is the goal.
