COMPREHENSIVE PSYCHIATRIC ASSESSMENT

As a physician-lead psychiatric practice, we place a high value on evidence-based clinical assessment as the foundation for treatment.  We have incorporated state of the art diagnostic tools for the clinician to arrive at an accurate diagnosis before treatment is initiated.  And we have highly trained board certified clinicians to oversee treatment at all levels of care. 

PSYCHOTHERAPY

Psychotherapy is a learning process in which mental health professionals seek to help individuals by the exchange of verbal communication.  It is often referred to as “talk therapy”.  Many types of psychotherapy are available at CBC.  Some focus on changing current behavioral patterns and others focus on understanding past issues.  Through this process, the patient may:

• Learn about the causes of their condition so they can better understand it. 
• Learn to identify and change behaviors or thoughts that adversely affect them.
• Explore relationships and experiences.
• Find better ways to cope and solve problems.
• Learn to set realistic goals for their life.

CBC offers the following types of psychotherapies to individuals, groups, and families:

• Behavior therapy which focuses on changing unwanted, unhealthy behaviors.
• Cognitive therapy which is designed to help you identify and change distorted thought patterns that lead to destructive feelings and behaviors. 
• Cognitive-behavior therapy combines features of both cognitive and behavior therapy to identify destructive and negative beliefs and replace them with healthy, positive beliefs.
• Dialectical behavioral therapy is a type of cognitive behavior therapy designed to teach you effective behavioral skills, tolerate stress, regulate emotions, and improve relationships. 
• Exposure therapy is a form of behavior therapy that exposes you to things that bother or upset you with the goal of helping you learn to cope more effectively.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a complex approach to psychotherapy that accelerates the treatment of a wide range of pathologies and self esteem issues related to past traumatic events and present life conditions.
• Interpersonal therapy focuses on current relationships with others with the goal of improving your interpersonal skills.
• Play therapy for young children without the verbal skills necessary to express emotions and feelings.
• Psychodynamic psychotherapy focuses on increasing your awareness of unconscious thoughts and behaviors which can lead to increased awareness and understanding of behaviors while developing new insights and resolving conflicts.
• Psychoeducation focuses on teaching you and other key people in your life about your illness.  It encompasses exploring treatment options, coping strategies and problem-solving skills for your illness.

PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

Psychopharmacology involves the use of medications for the treatment of mental disorders.  Psychopharmacology is provided by qualified clinicians including physicians, physician’s assistants, and family nurse practitioners.  The use of psychiatric medications requires an extensive understanding of basic neuroscience, psychopharmacology, clinical medicine, and a grasp of differential diagnosis of mental disorders to arrive at the appropriate treatment options.  To provide optimal medication services, CBC includes laboratory analysis and genetic testing where appropriate.  We also have in-house Pharm.D. clinicians to assist in pre-certification of medication options, as well as help in monitoring medical issues such as medication interactions and compliance.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING SERVICES

Psychological testing is a sub-field of psychology specializing in the measurement of human abilities, traits, and characteristics. Primarily conducted by licensed psychologists, testing is used to measure personality characteristics, intelligence and cognitive (thinking, attention, memory) abilities, and academic achievement.

While there are hundreds of psychological tests in existence, frequently used intelligence tests, like the Weschler tests, are used to provide estimates of overall thinking and reasoning abilities, useful when making determination for school placement, disability determinations, or when an assessment general ability level is needed. Academic achievement assessments, such as the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement, which measures a person’s academic strengths and weaknesses, are used when determining that nature of learning and academic difficulties and in making learning disorder diagnoses. Other tests may helpful in determining attention and concentration problems. While others can help determine appropriate diagnoses, leading to more appropriate overall care.

MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING

This is a counseling therapy which engages the client to make changes in behavior through facilitating intrinsic motivation.  The therapy is nonjudgmental, non-confrontational, and non-adversarial.  Through this process the client will envision a better future through specific change goals.