When choosing a mental health care professional, there are several important factors to consider. The first and most important is establishing a relationship that is one of trust and comfort, sharing often painful and very personal thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
The first visit with me will be at least an hour but can take longer, depending on the complexity, severity, and duration of symptoms. This appointment is so that we can begin building a therapeutic relationship, identifying your goals for treatment, build an action plan, discuss our mutual expectations, and a follow up schedule that will work to achieve your personal goals. If you think that I am the professional that will best meet your goals for treatment, we can embark upon working together through various psychotherapeutic and medication modalities.
There are many wonderful resources that have proven helpful, so finding the method that works best for you can require some time, effort, and motivational perseverance to achieve your best outcome. Often it is helpful to become aware of your emotions and physical sensations objectively and record these briefly to discuss at our next appointment. Just know that I am your partner in this effort! I hope that you will find humor, kindness, and honesty in our interactions.
I look forward to meeting you!
To ensure your Health and Safety
To My valued prospective clients.
I require that a release for previous medical and psychiatric records (at least for the past year) a current, valid photo I.D., a release of information for medical records, and that the mood questionnaires are completed prior to appointments, please. Many medications and treatments have effects which range from irritating to concerning and as your mental health care provider, it is critical for your safety and best outcomes that I can carefully review and current, or past medical and psychiatric histories. I encourage you to take a few minutes to sign these documents, identify past/current providers, and carefully fill out the questionnaires that we send via the patient portal. Your valued time and efforts are appreciated!
Best regards- April Matzenbacher RN, MSN, P-MHNP-BC
The following is quoted text explaining in more depth recommendations for gathering a medical and psychiatric history.
“Patients’ treatment records often contain information critical to risk assessment. We sought to determine whether psychiatrists treating outpatients agree about the standard of care (SOC) for requesting records from a patient’s past clinicians. This web-based survey invited psychiatrists to review a hypothetical outpatient clinical vignette and to indicate whether they would request a release of information (ROI) from the patient for treatment records from past clinicians. Respondents also described the community SOC for similar scenarios and what they would do if a patient refused the ROI…Most psychiatrists would try to obtain treatment records from any therapist, psychiatrist, or primary care physician seen by the patient within the past year. Some would require the patient’s consent to ROI as a prerequisite to treatment. Few respondents felt that obtaining records from several years ago would be necessary in a typical, moderate-risk outpatient case.
In an average outpatient scenario, the SOC would be to request treatment records from the past year. Psychiatrists rely heavily on clinical judgment when determining whether to obtain medical records from other providers.” “A patient’s records of prior mental health treatment often contain information of vital importance to the psychiatrist. Reviewing medical re- cords is an important part of systematic risk assessment and can help to minimize the risk of errors arising from poor recall or inaccurate re- porting by the patient. Treatment records may reveal a history…that the patient may not readily disclose to new clinicians. Charts from hospitalizations can also provide critical background regarding the patient’s response to different treatment options, history of adverse events (such as medication allergies), and relevant medical and psychological histories.” Retrieved August 8, 2022, from “Outpatient Psychiatrists’ Practices for Requesting Prior Treatment Records” by Patricia R. Recupero, JD, MD, and Samara E. Harms, BA.
