What happens at a psychiatric evaluation, step by step

A psychiatric evaluation at PATH is one appointment of about 60 minutes with a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner, in person at our Tempe office or by video anywhere in Arizona. Nearly all of it is conversation. You leave with her impressions explained in plain language, a recommendation, and a plan for what happens next. Most evaluations take one visit.

It is not therapy, and it is not a test you can fail. It also does not commit you to taking anything. Here is the appointment, step by step, so there is nothing to brace for.

Step 1: before the visit

Everything starts with the free 15-minute video consultation with our front desk, where you ask about cost and pick a time. The consultation is a conversation about whether an evaluation makes sense for you; it is not the evaluation itself. Evaluations are usually within three to five business days of that call.

Four things are worth bringing to the appointment:

• A current list of every medication and supplement you take, with doses if you know them.
• A photo ID.
• Any relevant records from previous providers, if you have them. They help and they are not required.
• Your questions, written down. People reliably forget the one they most wanted to ask.

You may bring a partner, family member or support person, in person or on video, and with your consent they can take part where that is clinically appropriate. It is always your choice.

Step 2: the first ten minutes

The appointment opens with what brought you in, in your own words. How long it has been going on, what a bad week looks like, what a good one looks like, and what you want to be different. There is no form to recite from. If you start in the middle, that is fine; the nurse practitioner will ask for the rest.

Step 3: the history

This is the longest part, and it is where the appointment earns its hour. You will be asked about:

• Sleep, appetite, energy and concentration, and how each has changed.
• Anything you have tried before: therapy, medication, anything else, and what each did or did not do.
• Your medical history and anything else that could be affecting how you feel.
• Family history, because some patterns run in families and that changes what to look for.
• Your best stretches as carefully as your worst ones. Some conditions are diagnosed on the up and show up on the down, so a careful evaluation asks about both.

Some of the questions follow a structured clinical interview, a set of questions asked in a set order. That is what makes it an evaluation rather than a chat. It is still not a test you can fail.

Step 4: the read

Near the end, the nurse practitioner tells you what she thinks is going on and why. Where a diagnosis fits, you hear it, with the reasoning behind it in plain language rather than jargon. Where it does not fit yet, you hear that too, and what would help settle it.

Step 5: the plan

You leave with a recommendation, which may be therapy, medication, both, or neither. Plenty of evaluations end with a recommendation for therapy and no medication at all. If medication is part of the plan and you and she agree on it, a prescription can follow; it is a decision made with you, not for you, and deciding against medication will not affect your care here.

Some decisions need an in-person visit at the Tempe office before they are made. If that applies to you, she will say so and the office visit gets booked.

Step 6: after the appointment

You leave the appointment with a written summary. Formal documentation, if you need it for work, school or another provider, is generally completed within two to three business days.

Follow-up visits are medication management: 20 to 30 minutes, in person or by video, to review how a plan is working and whether anything should change. Nothing is adjusted without a conversation first. If therapy is part of the plan, it is arranged under the same roof.

What it costs

The evaluation is $300 if you are paying yourself, and a follow-up is $150. We accept Aetna, Cigna, Carelon Behavioral Health and Curative for psychiatric evaluations and medication management; with one of those plans you pay your plan’s normal copay or coinsurance instead, and we check your coverage on the free consultation. The full price list, the sliding scale and the Care Membership are on the insurance and pricing page. Everything above applies by video too: the online psychiatric care page covers the video version.