Over the course of my career, I have found that our current system for classifying and diagnosing clients is often overly pathologizing, making people feel broken instead of building them up.

It’s important to remember that the DSM (the system of diagnostic classification used in psychiatry) is simply a way of labeling and communicating a group of symptoms or traits that are often seen together. It tells us very little about the specifics in any one person. It tells us nothing about how or why a person is the way they have become. A diagnosis is a chapter title at best, but certainly isn’t anyone’s whole story. Being human is hard and messy and wild. Many people, if not most, do not fit neatly into one clean diagnostic box. While a diagnosis may be required for billing and coordination of care, know that I see you as much more than that. We will work together to identify the specific behaviors, symptoms, and traits that are making life harder, and then figure out what function they serve you and how we might change them or embrace them for the better.

Similarly, I have occasionally seen care for patients fall short in the name of “Evidence-based practice”. Make no mistake, I am a firm believer in being up-to-date on the scientific literature, the latest evidence, and best practices and I am far too frequently furious to find out that many patients have been done real harm by not receiving the gold standard, evidenced-based care. However, I will always try to be honest with you about the limits of the evidence. There are many things in psychiatry that we just don’t know. There are many things that seem to help patients, but just don’t have the evidence yet to prove it. Sometimes this is because the studies just haven’t been able to be completed or get proper funding. Sometimes the evidence that does exist is hard to apply to any specific person in the real world outside of highly controlled trials. Sometimes the evidence is biased or serves other interests than helping people.

In moments where the evidence-base falls short, with our shared life experience, the art of psychiatry, and an honest conversation, we will figure out what next steps make the most sense for you.

It was with a heavy heart and mixed emotions when I left the world of insurance-based, corporate healthcare care to start my own practice. I know first hand how hard it can be to find quality care that is a good fit and also affordable.

When I made the decision to leave corporate health care, it was because I no longer felt like I could provide the level of ethical, quality, patient-first care that I wanted to. I have seen the burnout and devaluation that occurs when clinicians are treated as health care vending machines and profits become more important than the doctor-patient relationship. Insurance companies and “health care executives” often demand high administrative requirements and set limitations on how psychiatrists can practice in a way that often delays or prevents us from providing you with quality care. Rather than spending time billing, arguing, and negotiating with insurance companies, I can use my time to collaborate, teach, and build relationships with you, your family, your therapist, and the community.

I realize that in working outside of the insurance-based system, I will not be able to work with everyone. I also believe that it is misleading and unfair to blame individual physician choices for the current system’s problem with access to care, particularly while corporate profits soar alongside record rates of clinician burnout and even suicide. Until the current system changes, practicing outside of it is the only way I could see to continue to provide the best care possible to patients, continue to foster my own passion and zest for the field, and continue to care for myself and my family. I hope to give back in other ways, such as being active in community education, scholarship, training, and working with various advocacy and charitable organizations.

While I do not consider myself to be an expert in gender, sexuality, the transition process, or racial disparities, I do try to fully consider, without assumptions, how your identity, race, & sexuality impact your life and care. I try to practice in a way that is mindful that the current medical system often fails to see or acknowledge various groups of people in the diagnostic, treatment, and research process, often leading to health disparities across a variety of races, sexual orientations, and cultures, but particularly for people of color and those that identify as LGBTQ+.

I know how uncomfortable, scary, or embarrassing it can feel to talk about sexual preferences, experiences, practices, or traumas, and I recognize the deep impacts of discrimination, social biases, microaggressions, and living with a general sense of being “other” or “not enough.” I hope you will find that our sessions are a safe place to be your most authentic self without reservation.