Psychotherapy in Seattle
Psychotherapy is used alone or in conjunction with medication therapy. Its purpose is to replace negative and unhealthy behaviors and thoughts with positive, helpful ones. This is accomplished through understanding and improved control of mood, thought, and feeling.
Different Types of Psychotherapy
Individual Psychotherapy
Individual psychotherapy is very common, useful, and often utilized. This is when a professional trained in psychotherapy helps one individual navigate and work through personal issues, including a wide range of emotional and mental illnesses.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy
Interpersonal psychotherapy is commonly used to treat depression and improve personal relationships by focusing the therapy on interpersonal disputes and conflicts. Also used for grief that has been carried longer than typical. This type of therapy is a short treatment of 20 sessions, and for short periods, it has been proven to be as effective as antidepressants.
Family and/or Couple Systemic Therapeutic Approach
All therapy is performed with the individual’s role within the larger system at the forefront of the mind and from the perspective that the individual is part of the larger system of the family or the relationship. The goal is to change emotional reactions, communication, and relationships between two or more individuals within the family.
Psychodynamic
This draws the connection between events and relationships, old and new, and how they affect present relationships, choices, and feelings. It has been used short-term but produces a lasting effect. It takes over one year of searching and uncovering repressed emotions and negative feelings in order to resolve the deep-rooted psychological unrest and heal such areas as self-esteem and relationships.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
This is a short-term, goal-oriented therapy with a focus on the connection between thought and action, giving specifically to changing habitual unhealthy behavior. CBT is commonly used to treat anxiety, depression, stress, phobia, as well as overcoming harmful habits, like addiction, smoking, substance use disorder, and gambling.
Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)
CAT is a treatment system where the professional guides the individual to understand what has gone wrong in the past and to explore how to avoid and prevent it from happening again.
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) Humanistic
As the word “humanistic” hints, this therapy always emphasizes the person as a whole, with decreased importance given to the environment. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs — survival, safety, love, belonging, and self-actualization — were humanistic ideas from a humanistic psychologist. Therapy revolves around supporting the individual with unconditional love, support, interest, being genuine, and unwavering positivity and focus.
Seattle Psychiatric Services Available via Telemedicine
Synergy Mental Wellness is a telepsychiatry service that allows patients seeking treatment for issues like anxiety, depression, and ADHD to receive a full range of treatments without ever leaving their home. Michael Boas, PMHNP-BC is a licensed psychiatric professional with extensive experience medically treating patients. He will personally oversee your course of treatment.
How can a Seattle psychiatric service help you?
Telepsychiatry services, like Synergy Mental Wellness, are staffed with licensed, medically trained personnel who can diagnose psychological conditions and prescribe medication when warranted. Additionally, they take to discuss your malady and know the questions to ask to make a proper diagnosis. It’s not necessary to make a trip to a physical office with telepsychiatry, and you can receive your diagnosis and treatment recommendation without ever leaving your home.
Because of their education and the clinical training that they have received, licensed psychiatric professionals like Michael Boas have the necessary tools to understand and be able to explain to you, the complex relationships between genetic factors, emotional and medical illnesses, and family history and predisposition. With these tools at their disposal, they are well equipped to evaluate your case and make an accurate diagnosis. Once that has been determined, they can work with you to develop and implement treatment plans in order to give you the greatest benefit possible.
Can telepsychiatric professionals in Seattle offer you a variety of treatment options?
Absolutely. Because of their training, telepsychiatry professionals have a variety of treatments at their disposal that may work for your particular condition. These treatments may range from ordering lab tests, applying different forms of psychotherapy, and prescribing medications. The treatment option selected will depend on the particular patient’s needs.
Why is psychotherapy also known as “talk therapy”?
Psychotherapy is also referred to as “talk therapy” because when it is used, the patient and therapist spend their time together talking through the issues. This therapeutic method can be very helpful when treating various situations, which can range from emotional difficulties to mental disorders. Its main purpose is to control or eliminate symptoms that are disabling or troubling to the patient so that, ultimately, the patient can function better.
How long—or how often—the patient and therapist need to meet will depend on the extent of the problem. This means that in some situations, just a few sessions over the course of a week or two may be all that is needed. However, in other situations, many sessions may be required over a period of years. Another tool at a therapist’s disposal is the fact that this therapy can be given individually, or the patient can participate either as a couple, with the whole family, or in a group of other individuals who share the same concerns.
Do all psychiatric professionals use the same medication or treatments?
No. Diagnosing and prescribing treatment are very individualized. While the recommended course of action is largely dependant on the patient, different psychiatric professionals have different approaches toward treatment. Psychiatrists and psychiatric professionals are familiar with the effects of certain medications, for instance, and are usually able to predict the outcome. Oftentimes, adjustments have to be made in response to what they’re observing in the patient.
In which cases are medications prescribed?
There is no difference between the medications prescribed by psychiatrists and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners and those prescribed by doctors in other areas of medicine. In all cases, their purpose is to treat a specific ailment or condition. However, in the case of psychiatric medications, they are used to fix imbalances in the chemistry of the brain, specifically those that are believed to be involved in certain mental disorders. Patients who are prescribed these medications need to get together with their psychiatric caregivers on a regular basis in order to monitor how effective these medications are being and avoid any potential side effects. In the case of telepsychiatry, these routine checkups can be done remotely in most cases.
What types of conditions do you treat?
The Synergy Mental Wellness psychiatry practice in Seattle is staffed with a licensed telepsychiatry professional who focuses on ADHD, depression, and anxiety. Michael Boas, PMHNP-BC believes that by concentrating on these areas, he is better able to apply his expertise to his Seattle and Washington patients.
How can Synergy Mental Wellness help you?
At Synergy Mental Wellness, Michael Boas, PMHNP-BC specializes in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment through medication and psychotherapy — often in conjunction with one another — behavior medicine, performing neuropsychological evaluations, testing, and treatment. Our assessment services help our patients with the diagnosis and definition of potential problems, mapping out the most effective treatment plan.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have started offering patients brand new virtual visits through the use of a secure and HIPAA-compliant video conferencing platform. The system enables you to work with your psychiatric care provider without having to leave your home unless it is absolutely necessary.
These services allow you access to crucial support tools and resources, even more so if you have been struggling with social isolation and have health-related concerns. The aim is to always be there for you, even more so during these uncertain times. We invite you to peruse the services we offer prior to scheduling your telepsychiatry appointment.
Achieve Mental Wellness Now
You may seek psychiatric services for a wide variety of reasons. The problems that you are experiencing may have appeared suddenly — such as with a panic attack or the sensation of hearing voices — or it may be a long-term situation, such as constant feelings of hopelessness or sadness. Working with a psychiatric professional is a great decision for any of these issues you are experiencing and can help you build a path forward.
Contact Synergy Mental Wellness today!