Psychiatrist

A lot of psychiatrists provide psychotherapy for their patients, like Dr. Wasik does, so those psychiatrists who do so are able to prescribe medication to their patients. This allows patients to receive all of their treatment under a one roof, rather than having split treatment where the psychiatrist is seen on one side of town and the therapist on the other. If there is a split treatment, the therapist will work collaboratively with the psychiatrist, who can evaluate the need for medication and manage its use safely. This collaborative approach ensures that individuals receive both psychological support and, when appropriate, medical treatment. Psychotherapy and medication are often complementary: while medication can help manage symptoms, psychotherapy provides tools, insight, and strategies to address underlying psychological conflict, helps one cope with stress, and improve long-term mental health and quality of life. 

Yes, I do see patients for medication management only. In certain instances, that’s what some patients are seeking. That could be because they are in therapy with a practitioner that can’t prescribe medication, and their practitioner felt their patient needed the clinical support of psychiatric medications. In other instances, a patient comes to me on their own solely for medication management because they have been stable for a long period of time on those meds and say they are not in need of any further support. A lot of times that is true, but in certain instances I might disagree and suggest they consider adding on some therapy or consider a change in their medication regimen, or both. Each person’s situation is unique, so all the important factors of any individual’s situation has to be taken into consideration when I make or start treatment recommendations. Psychotherapy and medication are often complementary: while medication can help manage symptoms, psychotherapy provides tools, insight, and strategies to address underlying psychological conflict. Together they can lead to an overall improvement in mental health and the the quality of life.

Yes, I certainly do. In a lot of instances, patients who are interested in or need therapy do not need medication management. 

I see psychiatric medications as agents that can help patients control debilitating symptoms that are causing personal suffering, disrupting their lives, and corroding relationships with important others. In that respect, people can feel better but the medicines are not a long-term solution because their focus is symptom control and not long-term psychological change and growth. Therapy is more effective when it comes to creating long lasting, durable psychological change, and plenty of research has shown that a combination of medication and psychotherapy is often the best treatment for many, which puts medicines more in the helper role. In addition, because therapy can create significant psychological change, patients are often able to reduce the amount of medicine they are taking, or stop it all together. And, lastly, as noted above, there are plenty of patients who do not to want to take medicines, who prefer working through their problems by doing therapy alone, which in a lot of instances is completely acceptable. In all instances it is up to the patient to decide whether they want to take a medication that I might be recommending to help control their symptoms. 

If the decision for treatment is to go with med management only, I will most typically see you back in two weeks after your initial appointment for a 30 minute appointment to see how you are responding to the medication. If you are responding well to the medication, your next follow-up appointment will be in four weeks, followed by an appointment in six weeks, then eight, and then finally twelve weeks. Twelve weeks is the largest interval that I will permit between appointments if I am seeing you for medication management only. If your response to the medication doesn’t follow this progression, we will continue to meet every two to three weeks until you have a positive response. Once you do, we will then follow the 4 to 6 to 8 to 12 week progression that I just described. 

I am not in-network with any insurance company, but that doesn’t mean you can’t receive reimbursement for treatment with me. Generally speaking, there are two basic types of health insurance plans, the HMO and the PPO. With an HMO, you will not have coverage to see me, but you will have coverage with the PPO, POS, or a similar policy. To use one of these policies, you will first pay me in full directly, after which I will provide you with a receipt (called a superbill) that you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. The insurances most typically used by patients in my practice are Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Tufts Health (which now includes Harvard Pilgrim), Aetna, Cigna, and Optum (which includes UnitedHealthcare/ United Behavioral Health), although occasionally other policies are used.