bill slaughter md

Integrative, holistic support for
development and health of the adult psyche

Some thoughts for shopping for healthcare...

The US generally has more availability and better healthcare than most of the world, and also there are clearly countries which are generally better in this regard (usually smaller and more homogenous ethnically). Our overall way forward will be with best social systems for healthcare; please consider putting energy into helping build that.)

Here and now, finding support (access) can be difficult. *Don't be too discouraged if it takes some time to find providers. Stay with the process.*

If you don't find exactly what you want, consider starting with whatever you can arrange, then making changes. This can mean starting meds via a PCP, with talk counsellor, then seeing if it might make sense to switch prescribing to a specialty mental health prescriber(of any license), or combo talk and prescribing, etc. All this while optimizing your social relations, exercise, diet, general health and such as best as each circumstance allows, of course. Here are some aspects which might be be good to consider:

Combo prescribing plus talk therapy, or separate: Both have arguments for and against. I usually feel combining these might be best, to allow easier holistic discussion. But depending on the situation, I sometimes prescribe for some folks who have other talk therapists (or aren't currently in talk therapy), or do the talk therapy part with folks who have someone else prescribing (or aren't currently taking mental health meds.)

"Hmm...maybe I shouldn't use insurance to meet, and just pay directly myself...": *Do* use your health insurance if at aaalll possible. Some folks intend to pay (sliding scale) on their own, but over time most folks gradually feel burden from paying , and decrease services below what they intended and may best benefit from (consciously/intentionally, or just kinda do without realizing it...) That being said, I work with some folks who pay directly, for this or that reason.

How do I find a prescriber and or talk therapist(s--including
separate individual, relationahip, specialty, etc cousellor):