Mental Health Evaluation
Private sensitive online mental health evaluation for clinical diagnosis, medication management, child custody, employment concerns, criminal defense and more. See a Board-Certified Mental Health Evaluator.
The thought of a mental health evaluation can be intimidating. It is important to find the right mental health evaluator who will listen and take the time to achieve the right diagnosis. Your psychiatrist must collaborate with you to formulate a treatment plan that will help you to achieve your goals and heal. When mental health evaluations are ordered by the court and the employer, extra care must be taken so that the evaluator understands your situation and helps you take the right steps to work towards recovery.
A well-thought-out comprehensive online mental health evaluation by a mental health evaluator for clinical treatment and court can help you achieve your goals and change your life for the better by getting the right diagnosis at the right time so that you can live a happier and more fulfilling life.
Connect with Gaba Telepsychiatry to experience the difference!
Our online mental health evaluation approach
The mental health evaluation needs to be conducted with the appropriate amount of time and care to:
- Get the right diagnosis
- Understand the cause of symptoms, environmental factors, medical causes, and psychodynamic factors leading to symptoms
- Understand stressors leading up to the event
- Formulate an appropriate treatment plan
- Prescribe the right medication
- Collaborate with the patient and answer all the patient’s questions
- Avoid mistakes and miscommunication
A poorly conducted mental health evaluation can lead to poor communication, wrong diagnosis, wrong treatment plan, and poor treatment outcomes.
Hence, a good mental health evaluator should take adequate time and care to consider all the above factors while conducting the evaluation and ensure that the client feels comfortable, does not feel judged, and get all their questions answered.
How does a mental health evaluation for a court or an employer differ from a regular clinical evaluation?
When the mental health evaluation is for the court, the employer, as well as mitigating circumstances, the evaluator should demonstrate who the client is as a person. The mental health evaluator should also address:
- The clients’ level of insight and motivation to fix issues and receive treatment
- Whether stressors have resolved
- Whether the client is responding to treatment
- What steps the client has made to ensure that the issues have been resolved
- Why previous evaluations may not have been conducted as per required standards of care
- Why the previous diagnosis may be inaccurate
- What has changed, why the client is fit to return to work, and why the client is no longer a danger to self or others
At Gaba Telepsychiatry, adequate time is taken to provide the best mental health evaluation possible to help you achieve your goals by understanding psychodynamic factors and identifying therapy goals and modalities.
Gaba Telepsychiatry offers mental health evaluation for the following services
Who should conduct a mental health evaluation online?
Dr. Valeria Serban
Medical School
Neurology Residency Training
Master of Philosophy (M.Ph.) - Neuroscience
Internal Medicine Residency
Neurology Residency
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) - Neuroscience
Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship
Board Certification
Board Certified Psychiatrist with Multiple State Licenses MBBS (MD)
Dr. Valeria Serban is an experienced, Board Certified geriatric psychiatrist practicing general adult psychiatry and specializing in Geriatric Psychiatry. Dr. Valeria Serban has a background in neuroscience and has completed her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the NYS Institute for Basic Research, City University of New York. She also obtained a Fellowship in Neurophysiology from Massachusetts General Hospital – Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
As a geriatric psychiatrist, Dr. Serban can help individuals between 18 to 120 years, with age-related cognitive decline like delirium, depression, dementia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychosis, and other medical conditions resulting in psychiatric symptoms.
Dr. Tony Issac
Board Certified Psychiatrist in New York & New Jersey (MD)
Dr Tony Isaac is a double Board certified Psychiatrist with nine years experience practicing psychiatry. He provides compassionate discreet psychiatric evaluations, and psychiatric care services including medication management, and psychotherapy. Dr Isaac treats a wide range of psychiatric conditions including insomnia, panic attacks, depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He conducts suicide assessments, and acute stabilization and will work with your family and employer to provide support.
Dr Issac also provides follow up appointments, and psychiatric services including psychotherapy and sensitive medication titration. Dr Issac can work with you to achieve a collaborative treatment plan and work towards recovery and healing.
Dr Issac is available for same day appointments during emergencies and is available for weekend appointments to ensure that you receive the care and the folow up which you deserve.
Dr. Gundu Reddy
Board Certified Psychiatrist with Multiple State Licenses MBBS (MD)
Dr. Gundu Reddy is a Board Certified Psychiatrist with fifteen years of experience practicing clinical psychiatry. She also has ten years of experience practicing forensic psychiatry. Dr. Reddy has trained in medication management, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy.
Dr. Reddy has a special interest in integrative psychiatry and believes that multiple factors should be considered when evaluating and treating a patient. That includes genetic and developmental factors, medical illness, nutrition, hormones, as well as environmental and dynamic factors.
Schedule an Appointment with one of our Online Psychiatrists.
Clinical Services: California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee
Forensic Psychiatry Services: All of the US and Canada
How much does it cost to see an online psychiatrist at Gaba Telepsychiatry?
Your first online appointment with one of our psychiatrists will cost $400. The follow-up appointments will be $250. If you have out-of-network benefits, we can submit claims on your behalf.
What is a mental health evaluation?
A mental health evaluation (MHE) is a clinical interview conducted with the purpose of screening for mental illness. It’s a conversation between the psychiatrist and the patient to help decide the kind of support that the patient needs. The initial screening is often followed by more specific testing.
A mental health evaluation is also used to screen for trauma, defenses, personality traits, external stressors and medical illness which may be contributing to mental health symptoms.
In some cases, the purpose of MHE is to determine safety and risk to self and others. A MHE can also be used for clinical treatment, employment, court, child custody, or criminal defense. By obtaining an accurate diagnosis, the purpose of the MHE is to formulate a treatment plan and path towards recovery.
What is the process involved in MHE? What happens during the MHE? What to expect?
- The psychiatrist or mental health evaluator will meet the client in person or over a HIPAA- complaint video platform.
- The client will sign consent forms.
- The mental health evaluator will ask the client the purpose of the mental health evaluation to understand the client’s goals.
- The evaluator will ask the following questions:
- Presenting Complaint
- History of the presenting complaint: This includes recent symptoms or symptoms at the time of the event, any recent trauma and stressors, and other mitigating factors and causative factors.
- Recent Stressors
- Psychiatric History
- Substance Abuse History
- Trauma History
- Developmental History
- Family Psychiatric History
- Medical History
- Social History
- Relationship History
- Forensic History
- History of Violence
- After receiving answers, the mental health evaluator will
- Review collateral information
- Formulate a diagnosis
- Explain the diagnosis to the patient
- Order lab tests in some cases to exclude hormonal or other medical factors causing psychiatric illness
- Explain medication and therapy options
- Finally, the mental health evaluation will be written up.
If the mental health evaluation is for the court or an employer:
- The psychiatrist will provide a medical opinion, if needed, as to stressors prior to illness.
- The psychiatrist will provide a medical opinion as to whether stressors have resolved.
- The psychiatrist will provide a medical opinion as to whether the client needs further treatment.
- The psychiatrist will provide an opinion as to the clients’ level of insight and whether or not he or she is likely to be compliant to treatment.
- The psychiatrist will provide a medical opinion as to whether the client is likely to be a danger to themselves or others.
- In the case of a forensic evaluation, the psychiatrist must provide an opinion as to whether the client expresses regret and remorse for past offenses, whether he or she is likely to repeat offenses, and if the offenses were due to mental illness. The therapist must also explain what steps have been taken to prevent relapse of symptoms.
Can a MHE be conducted online?
Online mental health evaluation by video conferencing is accepted by the courts, employers, and other medical practitioners. It is important that the mental health evaluator follows the same procedures and standards of care, similar to the in-person visit.
Online screening or evaluation is the fastest and the easiest way to determine if you are exhibiting mental health condition symptoms.
Just before conducting the evaluation, you will be asked to sign consent forms. This step is done to access the patient’s medical history, symptoms, medication history, and other related information. It also gives authorization for doctors to discuss mental health conditions and treatment with your family members.
Who should get a mental health evaluation and when?
A person should seek a mental health evaluation if:
- They are experiencing psychiatric symptoms including, depression, low mood, anxiety, panic attacks, obsessions, compulsions, insomnia, racing thoughts, impulsivity, auditory or visual hallucinations, problems with attention or concentration, anger or rage, irritability, loss of productivity, disturbance of sleep and appetite.
- They are experiencing cognitive difficulties including problems with memory and decision-making.
- They are experiencing problems with attention, concentration, organization, and task completion.
- Their symptoms are causing problems with work or relationships.
- It is ordered by the court or an employer.
- There is an active DHS case (child protective services) or if you are being denied custody of your child.
- Required for aviation, military, law enforcement, and firearms.
- Required clearance for gender reassignment, gastric bypass, and other medical procedures.
Ref:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29380474/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35198133/
How much does an online mental health evaluation cost?
Mental Health Evaluator
A mental health evaluator can be a psychiatrist or a therapist. If you need a mental health evaluation for court, criminal defense, employment, aviation, fitness to drive, or other legal purposes, you will require an evaluation conducted by a board-certified psychiatrist.
Likewise, if you think you may need to be prescribed psychiatric medication, the mental health evaluator must be a medical doctor or a board-certified psychiatrist. He or she must have completed medical school and residency training, and have a valid license to practice medicine.
How long does it take to complete the assessment by a mental health evaluator?
An initial clinical diagnostic evaluation can take 60 – 120 minutes. An evaluation for court and legal purposes can take several hours.
How to get mental health evaluation from a mental health evaluator?
Mental Health Evaluation for Court
A mental health evaluation for court can be requested either by the judge, plaintiff, or defendant’s attorney. They are often requested for the purposes of criminal defense, DUI, child custody, guardianship, medical practice, personal injury, etc.
How a mental health evaluation may help you in court?
- A mental health evaluation or psychiatric evaluation will help you in court both for criminal defense or child custody, guardianship, personal injury, and many other situations.
- The psychiatric evaluation can help the judge and jury understand who you are as a person.
- If you have been accused of committing a crime or behaving inappropriately in the context of mental illness, a mental health evaluation can help explain your illness and how symptoms may have led you to behave in a way that is out of character.
- Mental health assessments can help you explain stressors, provocation, and other mitigating factors that may have led to an exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms. It can also give you a chance to explain how these stressors have been resolved.
- If you have been diagnosed with a mental illness, it is an opportunity to demonstrate that you have insight into your illness; you are willing to receive treatment and take the right steps toward recovery.
- Psychiatric evaluations can also help you demonstrate that you have worked towards recovery and that you are not a danger to yourself or others.
- A well-written mental health evaluation can sometimes strengthen your case to help your attorney request a lesser charge or a lighter sentence.
- A well-written assessment can strengthen your child custody case.
How to get a court-ordered mental health evaluation?
Getting a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation involves the following steps:
- Find a board-certified psychiatrist
- Submit a copy of the motion
- Schedule an interview with the board-certified psychiatrist
- Discuss the reasons and goals of your mental health evaluation
- Get an accurate diagnosis and treatment recommendations
Who pays for court ordered MHE?
Usually, the person being evaluated pays for a court-ordered mental health evaluation. In some cases, the individual may be able to request assistance from the court. Hence, it is a good idea to consult your attorney.
For child custody evaluations, both parties usually split the cost of the evaluation. The purpose of a private evaluation is to make sure that the evaluator tasks adequate time and care to consider all the factors that should be included in the evaluation.
Is online mental health evaluation accepted by the court?
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, online mental health evaluations are usually accepted by the court. Most judges are sensitive to the fact that it is often hard to find a local mental health evaluator. They understand that many individuals cannot afford an in-person evaluation and testimony. We usually ask that you check with your attorney before starting an online evaluation for legal purposes.
Online mental health evaluations are commonly conducted for criminal defense, guardianship, medical malpractice, child custody, personal injury defense, fitness to drive, aviation, and many other purposes.
Contact Us
You can immediately call us or schedule an appointment online via our website. Our clinical services are available in New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Florida, New Jersey, and California.
Gaba telepsychiatry is an online platform where the assessment can be performed via telecommunication from anywhere.
Dr. Gundu Reddy is a board-certified psychiatrist with ten years of experience practicing forensic psychiatry and fifteen years of experience in clinical psychiatry.