About Us
Philosophy
We founded MHNW because we want to provide excellent, integrated mental health care in an environment of mutual respect and equality. We believe there is still too much hierarchy, too much specialization, and not enough humility in the culture of medicine. As medical doctors with specialized training in psychiatry, we not only have expertise in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment but also have general medical expertise and are mindful of all the factors that contribute to overall health. We express our humility by taking a conservative approach to medications, recognizing alternative treatments, and working collaboratively alongside our patients.
Regarding medications, we recognize the limitations and risks of the medications we prescribe. We are more liberal in recommending medications with minimal risk and are more cautious in recommending medications with potentially harmful side effects. We reserve medications with significant side effect potential for substantial impairments in functioning or distress. We are transparent about potential side effects and potential benefit. We believe in evidence-based medicine and are committed to keeping up with evidence from new research, as it unfolds. We recognize that medications are not the only options in treating mental health disorders and are committed to informing our patients when non-medication treatment options exist for their conditions.
For many mental health conditions, psychological treatment, or psychotherapy, is equally or more effective than medications. We believe in letting our patients know when psychotherapy could be helpful for their conditions and are also committed to directly providing high-quality psychotherapy for our patients, or collaborating with your psychotherapist.
In regards to our approach to relationships with our patients, we believe in a collaborative relationships with informed consent and shared-decision making. We strive to achieve a therapeutic alliance with our patients through demonstration of competence, empathy, transparency, and respect for autonomy. We understand that medicine and psychiatry have a long history of further discriminating against and mistreating marginalized peoples, including the LGBTQ community and communities of color. We do not want to continue this pattern. We strive to provide culturally specific (or at least culturally competent) care and treat all patients with respect. We recognize that each person carries with them intergenerational resilience and trauma and we want to learn your stories.
Vision
We are currently a group of psychiatrists offering telehealth and in-person appointments. We hope to add clinicians and expand services in the future to become a more comprehensive mental health center.
If you are a mental health provider (psychiatrist, psychotherapist, alternative medicine practitioner) and would be interested in collaborating with us or joining the team, please contact us via phone or email.
Services
PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY
We offer appointments in person and remotely using a secure, HIPAA-compliant video communication platform over the internet. Drs. Christensen and Worthington are licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington, and can see patients residing in either state. Drs. Rodriguez, Reuther, Shenoy, Sterba and Sullenbarger are licensed in the state of Oregon. Please note that for telehealth sessions, the patient must be physically located in the state where their physician is licensed to practice medicine.
EVALUATION AND MEDICATION MANAGEMENT
Psychiatric evaluation is the process of diagnosing mental health conditions. We diagnose mental health conditions based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition (DSM-5), a publication by the American Psychiatric Association. We are also licensed in the states of Oregon and Washington to prescribe medications for mental health conditions. Initial appointments for psychiatric evaluation and medication management are 60-90 minutes. Follow-up appointments for medication management are 20-25 minutes. Psychotherapy appointments (with or without medication management) are 50 minutes.
We do not provide neuropsychological testing, disability evaluations, legal evaluations, medical clearance assessments, employer-related evaluations, MAT for opioid use disorder, or medical detoxification.
PSYCHIATRIC CONSULTATION
We provide psychiatric consultations, which include a psychiatric evaluation with treatment recommendations without the establishment of a doctor-patient relationship or prescription of medications. Psychiatric consultation can be requested by a patient or by a primary care provider. Treatment recommendations may include medications, psychotherapy, behavioral changes, therapeutic procedures, and further medical evaluation, such as lab tests or other diagnostic processes. Psychiatric consultations typically occur over one to three 60-90 minute sessions and result in a written report and discussion of findings with the patient and/or referring provider.
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Currently, we provide individual psychotherapy and hope to provide group psychotherapy in the future. Individual psychotherapy can be combined with medication management. One of the advantages of seeing a psychiatrist for psychotherapy is that a psychiatrist can provide both medication management and psychotherapy within the same visit. While the practice of psychiatry aims to treat diagnosed mental health conditions with medications, psychotherapy can have a much broader scope. In addition to seeking help for mental health conditions, people may seek out psychotherapy for purposes of gaining a better understanding of their experiences, behavioral change, improving relationships, setting goals, exploring purpose/meaning/values, coping with death anxiety, improving social skills, mind-body practices, or learning about mental health.