Psychiatry and Medication Management

The Approach

Neurodevelopmental conditions aren't character flaws, failures of effort, or problems to be fixed. They're variations in how the brain develops and functions — differences with real biological underpinnings that we understand far better today than we did even a decade ago.

Psychiatry at Convergent Minds reflects that.

Dr. Wood provides evaluations that are thorough and attentive to how things present across the lifespan, with honest acknowledgment of what the science can and can't yet tell us.

Dr. Wood dedicates a real portion of each appointment to education — about your diagnosis, about the mechanisms behind any medication being recommended, and about what the evidence actually says. The goal is for you to leave with a clearer picture of your own brain, not just a prescription.

The Process

Initial Consultation

An in-person appointment. Beforehand, you'll complete an intake questionnaire, and your psychiatrist reviews any prior records — past evaluations, school or neuropsychological testing, and medical history.

The visit begins with your own account of what brought you in, followed by a structured interview covering mood, anxiety, attention and executive functioning, development, sleep, physical health, medications, and family and treatment history. Caregivers are included for children and adolescents; for adults, collateral may be gathered with your consent.

Labs are ordered when clinically indicated. You leave with a working understanding of how your brain works and a treatment plan you actually understand.

Initial consultations are not available for online booking — contact our office to schedule.

Diagnoses are a starting point, not a destination.

Using the NIMH's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, Dr. Wood focuses on the mechanisms behind what you're experiencing — linking behavior, cognition, and neurobiology — rather than settling on a label.

Most patients that Dr. Wood works with have neurodevelopmental profiles (ADHD, autism, related learning and attentional differences) layered with mood, anxiety, or other presentations, and many have been evaluated before. The aim is to offer more than a repeat of what they've already been told.

Diagnosis

Medication management appointments run 22 or 45 minutes; the longer visit adds insight-oriented, problem-solving therapy alongside medication. Frequency depends on where you are — more often during initiation or titration, less once things are stable.

Dr. Wood also refers to a range of therapies — CBT, DBT, ACT, mentalization-based therapy, somatic experiencing, mental health occupational therapy, and physical therapy — and coordinates with outside providers.