Still want to know more? Find details & specifics on the “longer version” of our methods.

 What We Do

We take a personalized and holistic approach to treating dysfunctions in emotional and mental health (and the physical manifestations of these problem areas). We call it “optimized” because we are striving to help you feel better than “okay”—we want you to be your best self, to be “self-actualized”. We analyze your biochemistry using “objective” measures (like lab testing and genetic studies) and “subjective” measures (like any history you tell us about), your psychological factors like how you think about yourself, your reality and how you relate to others (“attachment style”) and deal with problems (“defenses”). We also want to understand what has shaped your mentality and get to know your strengths and lifestyle habits like diet, movement, relaxation practices and sense of community. Some people struggle in life because of psychological factors alone, like feelings of helplessness, a traumatic history, existential conflicts, and communication difficulties. Others’ troubles may be mostly due to biochemical factors, like inflammation, hormonal imbalance, nutritional deficits, or metabolic issues. A subset of individuals may have challenges in the arena of lifestyle, with a diet unsuited to their body’s needs, toxic stress load, poor sleep habits, or isolation (with or without the massive Instagram following). Most people’s problems arise when they have been having less than optimal functioning in more than one area for an extended period of time.

Why We Do It

We are passionate about helping people to function at their best—-physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually—-which means that we don’t want to make sacrifices in one area of life in order to achieve improvements in another. Conventional psychiatry’s current foundation is pharmacological medications which too often truly result in side-effects that are more than just mere annoyances. Side-effects can be worth dealing with if the substance causing it also results in greater benefit than the harm it creates. However, for many people, this just isn’t the case. We DO use conventional medications, but only when it is thoughtful and beneficial to do so. All psychiatrists discuss this benefit : harm ratio with their patients (or at least they should), but few have the time to tailor treatment to the individual, to consider other options outside of the typical algorithms, and to offer diverse therapeutic methods to address the psychological drivers of mental health.

How We Do It

Because we do not depend on insurance or operate under a large corporation with significant overhead, we do not need to follow their model of asserting a DSM diagnosis, prescribing you a medication, and sending you on your way within fifteen minutes. The umbrella categories of “depression” and “anxiety” have multiple drivers hidden within them. We strive to understand what yours might be, to develop a working hypothesis and to create a treatment based on this unfolding knowledge. The Optimize Psychiatry Triadic System (OPTS) incorporates the main drivers of health or disease--Biochemistry, Psychology, & Lifestyle--and breaks these areas into three primary personalized and essential components for the individual, which when realigned, result in access to the Optimized Self.  We always examine all three areas of biochemistry, psychology, and lifestyle, but we focus on trying to implement no more than three changes to each area in order to make it doable. We approach treatment in three steps, detailed in our longer explanation of our methods.