What to Expect from Your First Online Psychiatry Visit

What to Expect from Your First Online Psychiatry Visit

What to Expect from Your First Online Psychiatry Visit 150 150 Aware Behavioral Health

More and more medical professionals have moved online, especially after the COVID 19 pandemic. Fortunately for many clients, virtual psychiatry makes it far easier to get the help the mental health assistance that they need, which is why we have continued to offer virtual appointments at Aware Behavioral Health.

Virtual psychiatric appointments mean that you are able to attend sessions from the comfort of your home, providing you with easier scheduling and potentially greater privacy while also removing the need to wait in traffic or waiting rooms for your appointments. Whether this will be your first psychiatry appointment or you are transitioning from in person psychiatry to virtual care, this is what you can expect from your first telepsychiatry meeting and how you should prepare so that you can get the most out of it. 

What Occurs During a Virtual Psychiatry Appointment

A virtual psychiatry appointment will follow predominantly the same structure as an in person one. Your psychiatrist will assess your symptoms and inquire as to any current medication or other treatments that you are pursuing. The psychiatrist will then provide a diagnosis, if necessary, and decide on a course of treatment that may include prescribing medication, psychotherapy, and other methods.

For follow up appointments, your psychiatrist will check in about how current treatment plans are working for you and make any adjustments as necessary.

The primary difference here is that instead of being face to face in an office, you will be chatting over a video conferencing platform. As a result, there are a few pieces of information to keep in mind and steps you can take ahead of time to be prepared for your virtual meeting:

  • Be in the Right Location – Although video chat can connect people anywhere in the world, your psychiatrist is only licensed to practice in certain states. For instance, at Aware Behavioral Health, we can only work with patients in Texas.
  • Have a Good Connection – Video chatting requires sufficient internet speed in order for both your and your psychiatrist’s videos and sound to come through clearly. If you have slower internet, avoid any data heavy tasks like streaming on your internet connection during your appointment. This will ensure that both you and your psychiatrist can completely understand each other.
  • Download the Video Software – Your psychiatrist may use one of a number of video chatting platforms and will likely send over a meeting link shortly before your scheduled appointment. Making sure you have the right video software installed and updated will help prevent any technical issues as your appointment is getting started.
  • Have a List of Your Medications – This is true of any psychiatry appointment. You will want to have a list of all medications that you are currently taking ready to go, including their dosages, In order to share that information with your psychiatrist.

Dr. Sehdev at Aware Behavioral Health is a Dallas psychiatrist. Through virtual psychiatry services, he treats depression, anxiety, ADHD, and a range of other mental health conditions. Many of our patients are based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but our virtual appointments make it easy to meet with a psychiatrist even if you live further away. Learn more about our psychiatric services and our virtual appointments. Message through the contact form today.

Dallas Psychiatrist Dr. Surin Sehdev

Dr. Surin Sehdev is the lead psychiatrist at Aware Behavioral Health in Dallas (formerly Bedford, TX). He has been working in the psychiatric field for 7+ years. He specializes in opioid withdrawal, ADHD, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and sexual dysfunction. Content on this blog and this website should be considered informal and should not be considered medical advice, as may be written and/or edited by non-medical staff. Please contact Dr. Sehdev for specific and accurate diagnoses and treatment information.

All stories by : Dallas Psychiatrist Dr. Surin Sehdev