Services

Fireside Mental Health provides outpatient psychiatric assessment, treatment planning, and medication management for adults ages 18 and older.

Care is available in person at our South Asheville office, with telehealth appointments available for patients located in North Carolina.

Psychiatric Assessment and Diagnostic Clarification

You do not need to arrive with a diagnosis or know exactly what kind of treatment you need.

The initial evaluation is an opportunity to understand what you have been experiencing, how it is affecting your life, and what may be contributing to it. This may include:

• Reviewing your current symptoms and concerns
• Discussing your mental health, medical, family, and medication history
• Reviewing previous diagnoses and treatment experiences
• Using validated screening tools or symptom questionnaires when helpful
• Considering whether symptoms may overlap with more than one condition
• Looking at sleep, stress, trauma, relationships, work, school, substance use, physical health, and other real-life factors
• Reviewing previous records or testing when clinically appropriate

Sometimes the goal is establishing a diagnosis. Other times, it is reconsidering a previous diagnosis, identifying overlapping concerns, or making sense of why earlier treatment did not help.

Personalized Treatment Planning

After the assessment, we will discuss the available options and develop a plan based on your symptoms, goals, health history, preferences, and comfort level.

Recommendations may include:

• Prescription medication
• Nonprescription or over-the-counter treatment options when appropriate
• Evidence-informed supplements when appropriate
• Medication adjustments or simplification
• Education about risks, benefits, side effects, alternatives, and expected outcomes
• Therapy recommendations or referrals
• Sleep, nutrition, movement, stress-management, or other supportive strategies
• Additional medical evaluation or specialty care when needed

Medication may be part of the plan, but it is not assumed to be the only answer.

Ongoing Medication Management

Follow-up care focuses on how treatment is working in your actual day-to-day life, not only whether a symptom checklist has changed.

Appointments may include:

• Starting or adjusting medication
• Monitoring effectiveness and side effects
• Reviewing medication interactions
• Discussing concerns about weight, sleep, sexual side effects, energy, concentration, or emotional changes
• Evaluating whether the current diagnosis and treatment plan still fit
• Simplifying complicated medication regimens when clinically appropriate
• Planning for the cautious reduction or discontinuation of medication when appropriate
• Discussing medication affordability and practical barriers whenever possible

The goal is to find the simplest treatment plan that provides meaningful benefit while minimizing unnecessary medication and side effects.

Care That Is Available Between the Milestones

Mental health treatment does not always follow the calendar. A medication may cause an unexpected side effect, symptoms may change, or you may need support adjusting the plan sooner than anticipated.

I intentionally keep my patient panel smaller so there is room to bring you in for a sooner follow-up when clinically appropriate. If symptoms change, a medication is not going as planned, or the treatment plan needs adjustment, I can often offer an appointment within days rather than weeks or months.

Fireside is not an emergency or crisis service, and urgent appointments cannot always be guaranteed, but the practice is designed to provide thoughtful, accessible follow-up when treatment needs change.

Laboratory Testing and Medical Monitoring

Mental health symptoms can sometimes be affected by physical health conditions, nutritional deficiencies, medication effects, sleep problems, or other medical factors.

When clinically appropriate, services may include:

• Ordering and reviewing blood work
• Screening for medical factors that may contribute to psychiatric symptoms
• Monitoring laboratory values related to medication safety
• Reviewing relevant results from your primary care clinician or another specialist
• Coordinating additional medical evaluation when needed

Laboratory testing is recommended based on your individual symptoms, health history, and medications rather than ordered automatically for every patient.

GeneSight Testing

GeneSight pharmacogenomic testing may be available when clinically appropriate.

This testing looks at certain genetic differences that can affect how the body processes or responds to some psychiatric medications. Results may provide additional information when considering treatment options, particularly when someone has experienced medication side effects or has not responded well to previous treatment.

GeneSight results are one piece of the clinical picture. They do not identify a perfect medication or replace a careful assessment of your symptoms, health history, treatment response, and preferences.

Collaboration and Care Coordination

With your permission, I am happy to collaborate with your therapist, primary care clinician, or other members of your treatment team.

Coordination may include:

• Reviewing relevant records
• Communicating with your therapist or medical providers
• Coordinating laboratory or medical monitoring
• Clarifying how medication management fits alongside therapy
• Referring for specialty evaluation or formal psychological testing when needed

The goal is for your care to feel connected rather than fragmented across several providers.

Common Concerns Addressed

Fireside commonly works with adults experiencing:

• Anxiety, panic, or persistent worry
• Depression or low motivation
• Mood changes, irritability, or emotional reactivity
• Bipolar disorder
• Obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors
• Trauma-related symptoms
• ADHD symptoms and executive-function concerns
• Sleep difficulties related to mental health or medication
• Medication side effects
• Complicated or ineffective medication regimens
• Uncertainty about a previous diagnosis
• Symptoms that have not improved with prior treatment

This list is not exhaustive. Appointment requests are reviewed individually to help determine whether Fireside is an appropriate fit.

Services Not Provided

Fireside Mental Health does not:

• Provide emergency or crisis services
• Provide therapy-only treatment
• Prescribe benzodiazepines such as Xanax (alprazolam), Klonopin (clonazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), Valium (diazepam)
• Provide benzodiazepine tapering as a treatment service
• Provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder or alcohol use disorder
• Provide formal neuropsychological, autism, or learning-disability testing

Referrals may be provided when a patient needs testing or treatment that is outside the scope of the practice.

Controlled Medications

Controlled medications are considered only when clinically appropriate and are not guaranteed.

Evaluation and ongoing treatment may require review of prior records, prescription-monitoring database review, urine drug screening, treatment agreements, and regular follow-up. All medication decisions are made based on clinical judgment, safety, and the individual circumstances of the patient.