Outpatient Psychiatry

In the outpatient setting I conduct psychiatric evaluations as well as create and manage psychiatric medication plans. While adherence to the medication plan is critical, I encourage all of my patients' families to help themselves and their loved one by fully engaging in the psychological and social aspects of mental health treatment.

This means, in most cases, having a therapist or counselor. This applies for even very young patients as their families can benefit from parent management training regarding their children's behavior, as well as psychoeducation regarding their children's situations so that family life may become smoother. I am happy to be in contact with other members of your mental health team.

Please ask your therapist about support groups and bibliotherapy. Support groups are another form of psychological support and they can be both local or online. Also, reading suggestions are available from our office in many cases and new links to valued references will be appearing periodically on this web site.

The choices are difficult when faced with caring for the mental health needs of your family. Recovery in mental health contexts is rarely sudden, and it does require conscious effort on the part of the patient as well as the family, so watch for the small positive changes over time and please keep the members of your mental health team informed.

Thanks for your trust.

Karen Brooks, MD