Mental Health Care: Prioritizing Your Cognitive and Emotional Well-Being
At Garcia Family Medicine, we understand that mental health is just as important as physical health. Mental health care involves addressing cognitive, social, and emotional well-being, ensuring that individuals can manage stress, connect with others, and maintain a balanced life.
Mental health conditions—such as ADHD, ADD, depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder—are common but often overlooked. These conditions, if untreated, can negatively affect one's physical health, relationships, and overall quality of life.
Our mental health care services are designed to provide ongoing support, helping individuals manage long-term mental health conditions in a compassionate and personalized manner.
By utilizing the Direct Primary Care (DPC) model, we offer affordable, consistent, and high-quality mental health care without the burdens of traditional insurance systems and at a cost that makes it available to patients who have NO insurance.
This model ensures that patients receive more time with Dr. Garcia and greater access to care. At Garcia Family Medicine, we recognize the importance of mental health care and provide a comprehensive approach to managing mental health conditions.
Mental health is part and parcel of our regular primary care membership package and a component of every patient encounter.
What Is Mental Health Care?
Mental health care focuses on maintaining and improving the psychological, emotional, and social well-being of individuals. Mental health conditions can range from mild anxiety and depression to more complex disorders such as bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Mental health impacts how we think, feel, and act, and can affect every aspect of life, from relationships to work performance.
Mental health problems are more common than many people realize. In fact, millions of individuals around the world struggle with various mental health issues, yet many go undiagnosed or untreated due to the stigma around mental health or the complexities of accessing affordable care. This is why Dr. Garcia keeps a sensitive and receptive ear open at every patient encounter for signs and symptoms of mental health concerns that are missed or misinterpreted by other providers. Often patients are afraid or embarrassed to come out and state that they have a mental health concern, making it important to recognize those calls for help that may be masked by physical symptoms. But she is just as careful not to assign a mental health diagnosis to physical symptoms that may require a more intensive medical evaluation.
The patient who is seeking mental health care does not have to sign up for a special “mental health plan” at Garcia Family Medicine. As stated above, it is part of our primary care membership. The patient will not be told that they need to seek a psychiatrist to receive care. Evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment are provided by Dr. Garcia. Prescription and management of mental health medicines are also part of the primary care membership. The benefits of the direct primary care model roll into our mental health care, providing more time with Dr. Garcia for evaluation and closer follow-up, whether you are started on medicines or not, than can be expected in a traditional, insurance-based model.
The Role of Counseling in Mental Health Care
Some patients will do well with acknowledgment of a mental health issue and the part that it plays in their physical symptoms, and other patients will require medication and management of that medication in treatment of their mental health concern. There are some patients, however, who want or will require counseling. At Garcia Family Medicine, we do not refer you to a therapist; rather, Dr. Garcia provides counseling that is patient-specific and tailored to your individual needs. You may receive counseling in addition to medication prescription and management or counseling alone as the sole treatment for your mental health concerns. This is available to you for an additional counseling fee, a fee that is amazingly competitive compared to traditional counseling.
Unique and Compassionate Counseling
Dr. Garcia’s philosophy of counseling is unique, compassionate, and direct. It cannot be listed as a particular style but is something that she has developed over years of medical practice by working with all her patients, both those with only medical concerns and those who are specifically seeking mental health treatment.
Empowering the Patient
She has learned that everyone has at least one point in their lives when they are in need of mental health support and someone who will listen with wisdom and understanding, who neither has an agenda nor a particular “style” or format into which the patient must fit. The patient is empowered to advocate for themselves, working with Dr. Garcia to discover the direction their counseling should go.
The Role of Direct Primary Care (DPC) in Mental Health Care
The Direct Primary Care (DPC) model plays a vital role in improving access to mental health services by offering an affordable, patient-centered approach to care. In the traditional insurance-based model, mental health care is often expensive, complicated by co-pays, deductibles, and limited access to providers. Many patients experience long wait times before receiving treatment, limited time with their doctors, or annual limits on how many counseling sessions they may have, all of which hinder effective treatment. For the patient with NO insurance, the costs are even higher since insurance companies negotiate lower prices and only pay a percentage of that lower price, leaving the patient paying their part of that lower price. The only people who pay full price in traditional medical practices are the patients with no insurance.
With DPC, patients pay a monthly membership fee that covers primary care services, including mental health care. This means that patients have unlimited access to their physician without the need for co-pays or deductibles, with an additional fee for counseling. Further, the fees for membership and even counseling are affordable for the patient with no insurance. At Garcia Family Medicine, we prioritize the doctor-patient relationship, ensuring that individuals receive the time, attention, and personalized care they need to address their mental health concerns.
Value of Time Spent with the Doctor in DPC vs. Traditional Insurance
One of the most significant advantages of the Direct Primary Care model is the time that patients are able to spend with Dr. Garcia. In traditional insurance-based practices, doctors are often required to see a high volume of patients each day, leading to rushed appointments that may last only 10-15 minutes. This can make it difficult for patients to thoroughly discuss their mental health concerns or receive comprehensive care.
In contrast, DPC allows for longer, more personalized visits. Doctors in DPC practices typically have smaller patient panels, which means they can spend more time with each individual patient. Appointments often last 30 minutes to an hour, giving patients ample time to discuss their mental health issues, explore treatment options, and receive the care they need.
This additional time is especially important for mental health care, as many conditions require a nuanced understanding of the patient’s emotional and psychological well-being. With DPC, Dr. Garcia is able to build stronger relationships with her patients, more accurate diagnoses, and more appropriate plans of care.
DPC emphasizes whole-person care, which means that Dr. Garcia takes the time to understand all aspects of a patient’s health—physical, emotional, and mental. This is why mental health is included in our regular primary care membership plan. For individuals dealing with mental health issues, this approach ensures that they receive comprehensive care that addresses all facets of their well-being, rather than just treating symptoms.
Conclusion: DPC for Mental Health – A Path to Affordable, Comprehensive Care
Mental health care is essential for living a balanced and fulfilling life. At Garcia Family Medicine, we believe that everyone should have access to high-quality mental health services, without the financial strain and limitations imposed by traditional insurance or the higher costs charged to the uninsured patient.
