If you or your child are experiencing, or you believe may be experiencing, a medical or psychiatric emergency (including suicidal or homicidal thoughts, active intent to harm self or others, severe medication reactions or side effects, or any other urgent or time-sensitive matter in which you are in need of an immediate resposne), please:

• Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

• Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (available 24/7).

Please note: This practice is a scheduled outpatient clinic, not a crisis service, and cannot respond to emergencies in real time.

• Existing Patients: Once the immediate emergency has been addressed and it is safe to do so, please contact our office so we can help coordinate follow-up care.

• Prospective Patients: Please follow up with your child’s pediatrician or current medical team after the emergency is resolved.

You will meet with a board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist with 19 years of experience working with children and adolescents. We recognize that pediatric patients aren’t little adults, and the emphasis on treatment therefore needs an approach that is more suitable to the specific biological, psychological, developmental, and social stressors that are unique to children and adolescents. Our focus is on collaborating with your child and family to understand your concerns and set treatment goals focused on regaining function. We believe that addressing lifestyle, behavior, and thinking patterns are the foundation of treatment. Sometimes medication is also needed, and our approach is to try and achieve your goals with as few medications as possible.

If you are new to Water Oak Psychiatry, PLLC, click on the New Patient button. This will connect you to a secure portal where you can enter information and request an appointment. Your information will be reviewed, and we will get back with you regarding scheduling the initial visit.

If you have been under my care within the past year at a prior clinic, you do not need to start all over with a diagnostic evaluation. We will need to establish your care at Water Oak Psychiatry, PLLC, so you will need to use the new patient portal, fill out the forms, and submit for an appointment request. If I am able to continue care with you, please request copies of your medical records. You don’t need to have all the records, but I would like for you to request at least the initial diagnostic evaluation (from the first visit) and the notes from our last 3 visits. Please bring the records with you to the appointment. Bringing the records is important, as this will allow us to conduct the first visit as “Returning Patient Assessment” instead of an “Initial Assessment” (see “Services” tab for more detail).

For established patients, the secure patient portal is the preferred way to reach us with questions or concerns. You're also welcome to call our office and leave a voicemail. Our goal is to respond as soon as possible, but within 72 hours, whether you reach out by portal message or phone.

For medical or psychiatric emergencies, please do not wait for a response — see our "What to do in case of an emergency" section for immediate steps.

If you are a prospective patient calling our office, you'll be directed to our website for more information and to access the new patient portal to begin the intake process.

At this time, Water Oak Psychiatry, PLLC does not accept commercial insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare. This allows us to focus on individualized treatment planning without the limitations that insurance panels often place on visit frequency, session length, or treatment approach.

We want cost to be something you can plan for, so we offer a couple of ways to make care work for you.

• Payment plan options are available, so you can spread the cost of care over time.

• We can provide a superbill — a detailed receipt with diagnosis and procedure codes — that you may submit to your insurance for possible out-of-network reimbursement. We recommend contacting your insurance beforehand to ask about your out-of-network mental health benefits and reimbursement process.

We offer both in-person and telehealth visits. Telehealth visits are conducted through secure, HIPAA-compliant software. Please note, initial visits must be in-person; I am unable to establish care through a telehealth visit. Follow-up visits can be either in-person or telehealth. While in-person visits are recommended, telehealth is available when needed or preferred. If telehealth is preferred, please be aware that in-person visits will still be necessary at least once every 6–12 months (depending on the treatment plan and follow-up needs). If connectivity is an issue, or if your child is unable to participate effectively through the telehealth format, in-person visits are recommended.

Telehealth visits require that your child be physically located in Texas at the time of the appointment. If your child will be traveling outside of Texas at the time of a scheduled telehealth visit, please reschedule for a time when they will be in Texas. Please be aware of our no-show/cancellation policy if you need to reschedule.

A parent or legal guardian must be present with your child at the start of the telehealth visit and reachable throughout its duration, including in the event of a clinical concern. Depending on your child's age and the purpose of the visit, part of the session may be conducted privately with your child, consistent with standard adolescent psychiatric practice.

This policy may be updated if relevant laws or guidelines change.

If your child is having thoughts of harming themselves or others, or is in immediate danger, please call 911, go to your nearest emergency room, or call/text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). This practice is not a crisis service and cannot respond to psychiatric emergencies in real time.

As a solo outpatient practice, I'm able to offer focused, individualized psychiatric care, but I'm not able to provide the intensive monitoring, medical oversight, or multidisciplinary coordination that some conditions require. I'm not currently able to serve as the primary treating psychiatrist or provide treatment for:

• Eating disorders requiring medical/nutritional monitoring or multidisciplinary team care

• Active/primary treatment of substance use disorders

• Early-onset or treatment-resistant schizophrenia requiring specialized or closer psychiatric management

• Consultation to the court, including (but not limited to) custody assessments, forensic assessments, or court-ordered evaluations

• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

• Ketamine or esketamine treatments

• Administration of long-acting injectable psychiatric medications

If your child's needs fall into one of these areas, I'm happy to help point you toward an appropriate provider or program.