What is a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation?
When you seek psychological services, you schedule an intake appointment with the team at Summit Health and Wellness Center. During your intake session, your provider administers a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation.
Comprehensive psychiatric evaluations are designed to collect the information needed to accurately diagnose a mental health problem, whether it’s an emotional, behavioral, or developmental disorder.
The diagnosis and information are then used to design a treatment plan and define the mental health services needed to deal with the challenges.
What information does a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation collect?
Patients are active participants during their comprehensive psychiatric evaluation at Summit Health and Wellness Center.
Depending on the patient’s age, and with full permission from the patient, a parent, or guardian, information is obtained from teachers, family members, caretakers, and other health care professionals who have worked with the patient.
The following are a few examples of the type of information collected.
- The developmental history of the patient
- Full medical history of the patient and their family
- Description of the patient’s emotional and behavioral problems
- Description of how their problems affect school and social performance
- Personal interview with parents or guardians
- Psychiatric interview with the patient
- Lab studies and diagnostic tests if needed
There is not an IQ and other educational or learning assessments at an initial intake, but your provider may schedule them for a future appointment.
What happens after a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation?
After a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, the next step is to define a treatment plan. The team at Summit Health and Wellness takes a conservative approach and typically doesn’t prescribe medication right away. They believe less is more when it comes to medications and prefers to begin treatment with therapy.
The provider will talk with the patient and their parents (if the patient is a child) and determines the therapeutic approach that will work best for the patient’s personality and for overcoming their emotional and/or behavioral challenges. After defining the specific treatment plan, the team at Summit Health and Wellness Center will help schedule the first appointment for therapy.
When children get therapy, Dr. Smart may also recommend a plan of action for parents and teachers so they can continue to implement and reinforce the changes being worked on in therapy sessions.
To learn more about comprehensive psychiatric evaluations or to schedule an intake appointment, call Summit Health and Wellness Center or use the online booking feature.
