Psychiatric Evaluations
To accurately diagnose and successfully treat mental health/brain health conditions, we do a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation using a brain-body holistic approach grounded in the latest neuroscience
What are Psychiatric Evaluations?
A psychiatric evaluation can be helpful for anyone who has behavioral, emotional, or cognitive issues that are troubling and interfering with daily life. Unlike other doctors, at Amen Clinics we go beyond obtaining a medical history, talking with patients about symptoms, and conducting psychiatric assessments. In addition to those components, we take a holistic brain-body approach with in-depth testing and brain SPECT imaging to get to the root cause of each patient’s symptoms. By doing this, we are able to create individualized and targeted treatment plans that lead to the best possible outcome for everyone who comes to Amen Clinics for a psychiatric evaluation.
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Why Choose Amen Clinics for Psychiatric Evaluations?
Interestingly, psychiatry is the only medical field that does NOT routinely look at the organ it treats—the brain. For example, if you have crushing heart pain, your doctor will recommend a heart scan, but if you have crushing depression, most doctors will never look at your brain. Therefore, the Amen Clinics Method represents a true paradigm shift in psychiatric evaluations. More than 3 decades of groundbreaking brain imaging work and research has taught us that mental health issues are, in fact, brain health issues. Our bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach combined with sophisticated assessment tools, and brain SPECT imaging helps our doctors determine the underlying cause(s) of your symptoms so they can more accurately diagnose and more effectively treat the problems that have been causing you distress.
We Take the Guesswork Out of Psychiatry
Personalized Precision Psychiatry
At Amen Clinics, we understand that each person is unique, and no two brains are alike. Therefore, we don’t recommend cookie-cutter solutions for treatment. Instead, our doctors analyze all the information from your comprehensive psychiatric evaluation to provide you with a personalized treatment plan that addresses your specific symptoms and goals for brain health. We use the least toxic, most effective solutions that are proven to have higher than average success rates. Depending on your specific needs, treatment recommendations may include one or more of the following interventions:
- Brain-supportive nutraceuticals
- Dietary adjustments
- Cognitive exercise
- Functional (Integrative) medicine
- Hormone balancing and optimization
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
- Medication
- Physical exercise
- Neurofeedback
- Psychotherapy
- Stress Management
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation
- And other effective strategies
Our approach has proven successful in treating people with a variety of conditions, including, but not limited to:
- ADD/ADHD
- Addictions
- Anxiety Disorders
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Behavioral Problems
- Bipolar Disorder
- Brain Toxicity
- Chronic Stress
- Concussions and Traumatic Brain Injury
- Depressive Disorders
- Eating Disorders
- Emotional Trauma
- Hormonal Imbalances
- Learning Disorders
- Lyme Disease and Other Infections
- Marital Conflict
- Memory Problems and Dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease)
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (and related conditions)
- Personality Disorders
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders
- Self-Harm and Suicidal Behavior
- Sleep Troubles
- Weight and Nutrition Issues
Reframing mental health as brain health changes everything.
- Problems are seen as medical, not moral
- Decreases stigma, shame, and guilt
- Increases compassion and forgiveness from families
- Elevates hope
- Increases compliance as people want better brains
Ready to learn more? Contact a care coordinator today!
Contact Us4 Ways Psychiatric Evaluations at Amen Clinics are Different
At Amen Clinics, we take a balanced and comprehensive approach to assessing, diagnosing, and treating each of our patients. Our psychiatric evaluations include an analysis of each patient’s 4 Circles of Health and Illness, brain SPECT imaging, neuropsychological testing, and lab tests to assess your important health numbers.
1: How the 4 Circles of Health and Illness Influence Mental Health/Brain Health
At Amen Clinics, we believe in treating the whole person, not just their symptoms. To help us identify factors that may influence your mental health/brain health, we look at the following 4 Circles as they relate to you.
- Biological Circle: This tells us how the physical aspects of your body and brain function, including your genetics, lifestyle habits, illnesses, chronic conditions, exposure to toxins, history of head injury/concussions, your diet, activity and exercise levels, and more.
- Psychological Circle: This refers to your thinking patterns, the influence of developmental issues such as trauma, your upbringing, the running dialogue you have in your head, and your self-concept and body image.
- Social Circle: We will delve into your social support network, connection to others, and the nature of your relationships with family, friends, coworkers, or schoolmates. We will also want to identify any current stressors, such as work issues, family life, and financial concerns.
- Spiritual Circle: We will explore your sense of meaning and purpose in life as well as your connections to past and future generations, God or your spirituality, and the planet.
2: How Brain SPECT Imaging Provides a More Accurate Diagnosis that Leads to More Effective Treatment
Without actually looking at your brain, it is very difficult to know the underlying cause of what is going on. We don’t want to simply guess based on your symptoms. This is why we use a sophisticated technology called brain SPECT imaging. It tells us 3 very important things:
• Areas of your brain that work well
• Areas of your brain that are underactive
• Areas of your brain that overactive
Brain SPECT scans provide extremely valuable insight. They connect the dots between your brain function, behaviors, and symptoms, which helps your doctor at Amen Clinics create an individualized and effective treatment plan that is targeted to your specific needs.
Our 30+ years of brain imaging work has also helped us identify patterns in the brain that are associated with different mental health conditions. It has shown us that mental illnesses are NOT simple or single disorders. Therefore, when it comes to treatment, one size does NOT fit all. What works for one person won’t work for everyone with similar symptoms, and it could even make someone feel worse.
In addition, brain SPECT scans can reveal any damage from head trauma, even if the injury did not cause a loss of consciousness or you were not diagnosed with a concussion. Head injuries increase the risk for anxiety, depression, ADD/ADHD, PTSD, addictions, and memory problems. But if no one ever looks at your brain, they won’t know if conditions like those could be related to past head trauma. Healing the damage in your brain is a critical step in getting relief from mental health symptoms, because psychiatric medications alone won’t work.
With the world’s largest database of functional brain scans related to behavior—more than 200,000 and growing—from patients in all 50 states and 155 countries, our physicians are able to more accurately evaluate and diagnose patients. SPECT can reveal the patterns related to specific mental health/brain health conditions, evidence of head trauma, toxic exposure, or infection that has affected the brain. All this vital information helps the physicians at Amen Clinic be better able to create a personalized, targeted treatment plan that addresses your unique needs.
3: How Neuropsychological Testing Can Reveal Cognitive Issues
Another important part of the psychiatric evaluation at Amen Clinics involves two neuropsychological tests we administer to patients. These give us additional insights into how your brain is currently functioning compared to other people your age.
- The Conners Continuous Performance Test-II assesses focus, response speed, and impulse control.
- WebNeuro measures brain function in domains of cognition, emotion, and self-regulation. It also assesses for depression, anxiety, stress, resilience, and other areas.
4: How Diagnostic Lab Tests Offer Insights into Biological Issues that Affect Mental Health/Brain Health
Your overall biological wellness plays a powerful role in your mental health/brain health. For example, if your hormones are out of balance, your mood, energy, and thinking patterns will be out of balance too.
When appropriate, our doctors will order specific lab tests that measure your important health numbers, because they are strong indicators of your overall health. Depending on your individual needs and brain health goals, genetic testing or more extensive lab work might be recommended as well.
85%
of people report a better quality of life after treatment at Amen Clinics.