the Price of a Psychiatrist

I received approximately 12 sessions of Psychiatric care. Each session lasted fifty minutes, and generally there was an approximately ten minute wait to see the doctor. Each session consisted of talk therapy, as well as a discussion of medications and side effects. Sometimes a prescription was dispensed. The entire cost of services went to the psychiatrist -- there was no other payment breakdown.

The quality of the psychiatric care I received was high. The care was oriented toward psychotherapy (Freudian model), so there was a lot of discussion of familial conflict and past events, traumas, etc. This focus on psychoanalysis made the sessions interesting and different than any other care I have received, and there were always lots of topics to talk about and new insights into familial relationships to gain; however, it was often of limited practical benefit since basic daily life issues were not really a priority. Therefore, issues such as daily anxiety and worries were not usually discussed. Another problem with the service was that although the doctor was a psychiatrist and dispensed medications, he did not want to spend much time discussing side effects and any problems with the medication. For my money, I would assume that this would be part of the service and that I could count on the psychiatrist to be actively working toward a good medication fit for me; unfortunately, this was not always the case. The price of all psychiatric care is generally high, so I found that this was an average value for the price - very similar to what would be charged elsewhere.

When looking for a psychiatrist, make sure to inquire about his or her specific training and specialty. Many people will want a traditional psychiatrist who focuses on medications, not a psychotherapist who wants to discuss details of family dynamics. If you do find a psychiatrist who is also a Freudian, you may want to hire an additional psychiatrist on the side to simply take care of medication issues. Likewise, if you find a psychiatrist who is just going to dispense medication, you may want to hire a therapist or psychotherapist on the side to dispense talk therapy.