A psychiatric consultation is a comprehensive evaluation of the psychological, biological, medical, and social causes of emotional distress. It will review your current stresses and problems and any past medical or psychiatric conditions. A psychiatric consultation can help you understand the sources of problems from three points of view: biological (i.e. heredity, hormones, nutrition, physical illness), psychological (i.e. current life stressors, childhood experiences, trauma), and social (i.e. cultural differences, personal relationships, home environment, family dynamics). It is this capacity to evaluate the causes of emotional distress from each of these perspectives that makes psychiatry unique.  This information, as well as any necessary medical records and laboratory tests, will lead to the formulation of a diagnosis (es) and a comprehensive treatment plan.  Many people find that a psychiatric consultation gives them a new perspective and hope for the future. 

Psychiatric consultations can take between 1-3 sessions depending on the mental health condition (s) and severity. Initial psychiatric consultations can take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Comprehensive psychiatric follow up evaluations take 45 minutes. Standard follow-up psychiatric evaluation takes 20 minutes and occur when client mental health state has improved and/or is stable. In order to make the session as productive as possible, please gather together all of your records and recollections of previous treatments before the first session.  Part of this process includes filling out a comprehensive patient health informational packet.  Generally, two thirds of a consultation will be spent reviewing the nature of your problems, their origins, and the course of any previous treatment. The last third of a consultation is devoted to discussing the assessment of your difficulties and any recommendations Dr. Boyd has for your mental health recovery treatment plan. Psychiatric consultations is much more than just an assessment for medications. Dr. Boyd’s commitment as a psychiatric provider is to review all the reasonable alternative treatments including psychotherapy, their likely benefits, and any possible risks associated with these treatments for your mental health recovery.