Choosing a Consultant

Consultation for psychiatric issues is increasingly challenging.

The variety of treatment choices is immense and so markedly diverse
with many subspecialties; the choice can become quite overwhelming.
Just how can one make an informed choice for their psychiatric medical
professional?

The psychiatric world has changed. Not only should your psych
professional understand the foundation of traditional dynamic
psychotherapy, but should have ready experience and access to clinical
experience in a wide variety of conditions, from alcoholism to autism,
from psychopharmacology to psychoneuroimmunology.  Any of these issues
may be relevant to your recovery process.

Board certification remains an important fundamental criterion for
the selection of your medical professional, as the American Board of
Psychiatry and Neurology sets excellent standards for knowledgeable
intervention and treatment.  Board certification is a good starting
point.

But, as you know, with the rapid evolution of neuroscience and
neurophysiology the choices quickly narrow. Many who are board
certified maintain surprisingly little interest in psychopharmacology,
and even less interest in bowel physiology. Many assert that they are
“child trained,” but have no residency in child or adolescent
psychiatry.

Others assert that they were “trained in psychoanalysis,” but never
entered a formal psychoanalytic training program, or if they did,
didn’t finish. Others have become board certified in “addiction
medicine” and have had no consistent work with chemical dependency
other than with those that occasionally walk in the door. They passed
the addiction certification test, but don’t know the fourth step in the
12 Step Program.

Of course, many excellent practitioners don’t have the necessary
fundamental credentials – the only problem for the consumer: how can
you sort out skill sets by word of mouth? Sometimes it feels like a
grocery store when you ask the vegetable person where the crackers are
and he doesn’t know. I’ll bet the manger knows.

These issues regarding ongoing training and certification are all
challenges that I personally repeatedly have faced in my own career. I
consistently make the choice to spend the extra time and money
necessary to walk the extra mile, to take the extra training, and will do
so until I am forced to slow down. I love this work, and am still often
surprised by remarkable new information.

My recent ~ 4 years flying back and forth from Va. Beach to DC with
that Amen Clinic office provides further evidence for my inclination to
completely master information that might be of help to my patients.
Amen is the world leader in SPECT imaging, the travel was a
considerable cost and effort on my part, and the time was very well
spent with an excellent DC team.

Your best bet: find a person with the best and most comprehensive
training, the widest variety of actual clinical experience, an ability
to coalesce abundant information, and a passion for the unknown. That
person will be very pleased that your problems walked in the door, and
will have a sense of optimism about the process of learning about your
difficulties.