Psychiatric Medication Management
Psychiatric medication management can be a powerful tool in your mental health journey. Continue below to see how can help.
What To Expect
Initial Consult (10 minutes, Free!)
No pressure, absolutely free, 10-minute, Google Meet consult to answer all your questions about the psychiatric evaluation, medication management, and the plan moving forward
Psychiatric Evaluation (60 minutes)
60-minutes, no preparation needed, just come as you are. You’ll be asked questions about your current symptoms, mental health history, what makes your symptoms better/worst, medical history, medication allergies, and other questions to help build a complete picture of not just a diagnosis, but a clear and coherent narrative about what your mental health concerns are built of. In the end, you’ll have a full, comprehensive mental health plan: not just for your psychiatric medication, but for therapy and daily life interventions to support your mental health journey.
Aetna and Blue Cross of Blue Shield of MA accepted.
Private Pay: $375
Follow Up+Re-planning (30 minutes)
Some medications work within a week, some 4-6 weeks, some immediately but require time to evaluate how it’s working. Based on which medication and how much time you feel you need to decide how a medication is working for you, we’ll follow to see how the medication is working, any side effects you may be experiencing, and further evaluate the plan to move forward. You are the driver of our plan, and I am here to support your goals for your mental health with the support of medication. Once stable, we see each other once every 3 months to ensure your medications are working, monitor labs/vitals to ensure everything is appropriate, there are no changes to your symptoms, and update on any new medical or social issues that may have arisen
Aetna and Blue Cross of Blue Shield of MA accepted.
Private Pay: $200
Always accessible during the in-betweens (Email and Text)
You’ll have access to us via text and email, and you can reach out anytime. We respond to you within 24 business hours (often sooner!), Monday through Friday (excluding holidays, self care is important for us too!). If we deem the question requires an appointment, we will help you schedule an appointment, usually within the week.
The Solidarity Mental Health Difference
Shinichi is an internationally recognized expert in global mental health equity, whose experience spans over 30 countries throughout Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and Europe and throughout urban and rural areas in the United States. His clinical expertise in (C)PTSD/trauma, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD is rooted in clinical training at Yale and VA Medical System, while his psychiatric and mental health leadership and experience at Partners In Health, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, MGH Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, World Health Organization, Project HOME, the University of Southern California Department of Clinical Psychology, Duke University, and NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene expanded foundational principles to unique and holistic perspectives and insights in treating mental health conditions.
Shinichi is also the son of immigrants, and grew up in the Vietnamese Boat Refugee community of Los Angeles, and experienced first hand the impact of trauma, community, and stigma has on the lives of those often forgotten. Shinichi has worked side by side with care providers and patients individually, at the systems level, at the policy level, and within government to ensure every human is afforded the right to the highest level of mental health care imaginable.
These unique global and equity based perspectives, combined with his own lived experience, form the foundation of Shinichi’s unique approach to care: one that centers the person, their experience, their hopes, their dreams, their motivations, their communities, their identities, their actions as the driving factor in understanding their mental health struggles and how best to heal them. Shinichi approach is not only to address the mental health condition, but to also help a person feel wholly empowered in all aspects of their life.
You can read more about Shinichi’s extensive and unique training and experience here
What Can Psychiatric Medications Really Help With?
Ever wonder what psychiatric medication managements can help? See below for some examples of symptoms that my patients have found relief from!
(C)PTSD/Trauma
You have recurring dreams when you’re sleeping or moments you’re awake where you’re re-living a traumatic event from your past. It almost feels like you’re living and breathing these most difficult moments over and over again in reality.
You find yourself absent from both the everyday and triggering moments in your day to day, like you’re somewhere else separate from living your life, because it feels safer to not be present.
You often feel your body is constantly feeling unsafe and you’re always tense and waiting for something bad to happen. You feel it in your chest tightness, inability to breath full breaths, tense muscles, find yourself drenched in sweat.
Propranolol ER (for hypervigilance), prazosin (for nightmares and flashbacks), certain SSRIs (for depression, anxiety and other symptoms worsening your trauma symptoms)
Anxiety (includes Generalized Anxiety, OCD, panic disorder, Social Anxiety, Agoraphobia)
You worry about anything and everything, from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep.
You have intrusive thoughts, or have thoughts that come out of nowhere that are not prompted by any particular trigger or event. You wish you didn’t have these thoughts, but no matter what you do, they intrusively enter your mind.
You feel like the thoughts in your head are too loud, too fast, too overwhelming to deal with. You see and feel the worry, but they’re too intense to deal with, even though you wish you could.
Medication examples: SSRIs (there are many, but they’re not all the same!), propranolol (for physical anxiety)
Shinichi’s expertise: Shinichi has trained at the West Haven VA Mental Health C
Depression
You feel sad, lack pleasure in doing the things you enjoy, you feel tired for no reason, you are not motivated to do anything and would rather just stay in bed, you don’t want to see your friends or family at all.
You sometimes feel sad, and that sadness also makes you feel angry or irritable
You cry often, for no reason. You’re sad, but can’t put your finger on why. You used to be be motivated and have purpose, but no matter what you do, you can’t muster the will to do anything.
Medication examples: SSRIs (certain ones are better for specific situations), Wellbutrin XL
ADHD
You can’t focus, concentrate, organize yourself, even though there are things you want or need to do.
Someone is talking to you and you often try to anticipate what they say, or get distracted by things around you.
Trying to start something feels unbelievable, unreasonably overwhelming. The only thing harder is trying to plan to start something.
Medication examples: Straterra, Concerta, Vyvanse, Adderall
Bipolar Disorder
You’re experiencing all of these at the same time: not sleeping for 4-7+ days with no sleep, you feel like your mood is the highest it’s ever been to the point you feel invincible but for no particular reason, you feel like your energy levels are so high you could run 10 marathons a day, every since day, with no sleep from 4-7+ days, you’re irritable and angry for no reason, your thoughts are racing so fast you can’t see or hear or name them, you’re speaking so fast as if periods or commas don’t exist and you have to get every thought out at this minute, you’re impulsive to the point where you’re spending money or speeding or having risky sexual encounters or using substances in ways that endanger your health and the health of others, you find yourself going between moments of extreme happiness and euphoria and extreme depression
Medication examples: Abilify, Seroquel, Lithium
Common Questions about Psychiatric Medication
"Will I be on medication forever?"
One of the most common questions! The answer is “it depends”. Many patients feel it benefits them to be on their psych meds long term, because they feel that it helps them live the type of life they want to live. Some patients, after gaining stability for a period of time medication and building good tools and supports via therapy and other avenues, wish to come off their medication to see if their symptoms are as severe as when not on medication. I’ve had many patients who successfully come off medication and live very happy lives, and plenty of patients who believe medication is an important tool for their mental health journey. There is no right or wrong answer, and we will work together to figure out what works best for your goals, values, and life.
"Can I get my medication refills through you?"
Yes! I can prescribe and refill any of your psychiatric medications.
"Do I need therapy too, or just meds?"
My philosophy is that everyone can benefit from therapy at some point of their life, but everyone needs to be ready to for it to be helpful. I generally encourage every one of my patients to be in therapy, especially if there are active issues or concerns that feel like they need addressing. But there is no one size fits all answer: some individuals truly have a mental health issue that is a perfect fit for therapy, one that is specific suited for medication, and some can benefit from both. The most important thing is that you are listened to and we come up with a plan that best reflects your reality, values, and needs.
"What's the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner?"
Both a psychiatrist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner are trained, licensed, and board certified to diagnose, treat, prescribe medication and conduct psychotherapy for mental health conditions. We differ in the degrees we hold (MD/DO vs MSN), years of initial training (psychiatrist usually 4 years medical school+4 year psychiatry residency+potential fellowships vs. psych NP usually 2-4 years nursing school to become Registered Nurse+2-4 years psych NP training), and approaches to care (psychiatrists trained in medical model, psych NPs trained in both medical and nursing models). After initial training, both psychiatrists and psych NPs can independently obtain additional training/licensure, and work in similar (community, inpatient, private, IOP) settings with identical responsibilities in Massachusetts. After finishing my training, I was clinically supervised for 3.5 years by the chair of psychiatry of Einstein Hospital while providing and leading psychiatric and psychotherapy care to patients for a homeless nonprofit and community health center in Philadelphia, while also collaborating with many psychiatrists, psych NPs, psychologists, social workers, primary care physicians, medical specialists, nurses, community health workers, and other care providers. I’ve also supervised, psych NPs, nurses, psychiatry residents, nursing and medical students, while providing expert consultations to primary care and psychiatrists in trauma, anxiety, mood disorders, PTSD/trauma, ADHD, and psychosis. As an independently licensed and practicing psych NP, I continue to collaborate with psychiatrists, psych NPs, and other mental health and medical care providers while continuing my training to ensure the highest level of care for my patients.