Mental illness can take many forms, and in many cases can interfere with your daily life, your ability to function in your career, and in maintaining healthy and happy relationships with others. Medications are available to provide the needed treatment and relief of the various symptoms of mental illness, and can help you manage your condition and live your best life possible.
The clinicians of Converge will carefully evaluate your concerns, diagnose your condition and discuss all of the medication options available in easily understood terms. You will learn how each medication works, its dosage and frequency, expected benefits and potential side effects, drug interactions and any withdrawal effects you may experience if you stop taking the medication abruptly. We seek to provide you with all of the information you will need to make a rational decision as to which treatment is right for you.
You may already be receiving psychotherapy from a therapist or counselor, and are referred to us for medication management. In this case we will make a strong effort to coordinate care with your therapist (with your consent, of course). We believe communication between mental health professionals (as well as with your primary care provider) is key to providing effective care. If you do not have a therapist/psychotherapist/ counselor, we may encourage you to see one during your treatment with Converge.
Not every mental illness requires medications, and not everyone is a good candidate for medication therapy. Such therapy requires strict adherence to dosage, and frequency, close follow-up, and sometimes regular blood tests. Your ability to adhere to medication treatment will be taken into consideration in making the decision to start such therapy. We will be following established standards of practice, current guidelines and trends in research and will prescribe medications in accordance with State laws and regulations.
Particular care and attention will be taken in the prescription of any controlled substances. This may take the form of coordinating information from pharmacies via the Michigan MAPS program, and the utmost caution will always be taken if suspicion of abuse/dependence or illegal usage is suspected. We can not guarantee you will be prescribed what another health provider has previously ordered for you. As clinicians with prescriptive authority, we have vowed to “do no harm,” and pledge to take any and all factors into consideration when prescribing such medications. We reserve the right to require a higher frequency of visits and blood/urine tests if applicable, to monitor such medicines; and the right to taper the prescription of any medication felt to be clinically inappropriate. We will not prescribe any medication that we deem potentially harmful and/or not indicated for your condition.
Finally, as we “Converge” to a working partnership within the psychiatric clinical relationship, we must emphasize we will depend on you to accurately report your symptoms, all medications taken, your medical history and any and all concerns you have regarding your mental and medical condition(s). In return, we will pledge to provide the best psychiatric care to the best of our ability.