Historically there have been too few psychiatrists, especially in rural areas. Because of this I gained considerable training and experience in prescribing psychiatric medications. It is ideal that people can get the expertise of psychiatrists or psychiatric nurse practitioners, in particular if their needs are beyond what their primary care provider can offer. Currently Vernon County is surprisingly well-served by psychiatric services. But there is still much more demand than they can meet. On average in rural areas it can take half a year or more to get in to see a psychiatrist, and many people are left in limbo.

If you are working with a therapist and need management of psychiatric medications I can offer an “in-between” level of expertise. I do not feel qualified to treat schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and do not have the skills for treating addictions or eating disorders. And I have no illusions about the ability of psychiatric medications to treat a lot of other conditions. But I can offer reasonably adept prescribing for people with depressive and anxiety-related disorders, and with bipolar I or II.

A couple of caveats:

• I may do an extensive work-up for medical conditions that can affect mood.

• Because I am not covered by most insurances, with your permission I may ask your primary care provider to run certain tests, and in some cases, to do the actual prescribing. This will require an open working relationship with your PCP. The purpose of this is to minimize costs to you.

• I will not provide ongoing prescriptions of benzodiazepines, stimulants, or other controlled drugs.