Your Psychiatrist Is Leaving: What Do You Do?

A good psychiatrist is hard to find.

After an extensive search, you finally found a wonderful psychiatrist for yourself or your child. This doctor listens; she respects you, she is available for appointments, and she gets back to you if you need her between visits. But now she is moving, retiring, leaving your health plan, or, for some other reason, she can’t treat you anymore. Now you must find someone new—and it’s a daunting task.

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Psychiatrists can be hard to find, especially child and adolescent specialists. While the numbers of available doctors vary from location to location, even in places with pretty good supplies of psychiatric specialists, it can be extremely challenging to find someone who has availability for new patients, is accessible financially, is located conveniently, or does virtual appointments. Furthermore, the doctor’s style and personality also influence your treatment, and this can be hard to pin down from a website or a phone call.

Planning for the transition and finding someone new

These transitions stir up a lot of feelings along with the logistical challenges. In optimal situations, there’s time for meetings to plan the transfer of care, to say goodbye to your current doctor, and to get set with your new doctor. Unfortunately, this often isn’t the case, and you may face a number of problems that must be addressed in ways that don’t disrupt your medications and treatment.

While no tip or trick can make this type of change easy—there are some strategies that can help reduce the pain.

1. Find out exactly how much supply of medication your doctor can prescribe to hold you over during the transition period. This will depend on many factors, including how well-managed your symptoms are, if you take controlled substances, and if the doctor or someone covering for the doctor is available. Knowing your time frame is critical.
2. If you are approaching a time when your medication will run out, consider asking your primary care doctor—or your child’s pediatrician—if they can prescribe in the interim while you find another psychiatrist. This is more likely to be an option if your medications have been stable for a while. They may not be able to accommodate you, but it is absolutely OK to ask.
3. In looking for a new psychiatrist, ask everyone you know, starting with your current doctor. Inquire with your primary care doctor (or your child’s pediatrician) and any other doctors or specialists you see. Ask your therapist. Ask friends and family members. For child and adolescent docs, tap into the parent network at school and ask the school psychologist or social worker. If you are in a therapy or recovery group, check in with everyone there.
4. Review provider lists from your insurance company, but keep in mind that these lists are often outdated and inaccurate. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your insurer by phone if you are having trouble locating a provider who takes your coverage. If there isn’t anyone available in your area, the insurance company may have to reimburse you for someone out of network.

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Other resources to mine and what questions to ask

If traditional referral sources don’t pan out, you can take to the internet, of course, but be cautious. Many doctors and practices have their own websites now, and there are also plenty of internet resources that will populate a list of psychiatrists near you—Psychology Today included. Without a reference from someone, though, you need to do more vetting yourself. It’s OK to ask questions. Try to gather the following information:

• The doctor’s education, experience, and board certification
• Their approach to care
• Their fees and whether they take your insurance
• How difficult is it to get follow-up appointments
• What happens in an emergency
• How to contact the doctor between visits for urgent, but not emergency, concerns

Be especially cautious with newly formed internet-only psychiatric practices. Some have popped up that are great, but some provide poor-quality care, with only brief meetings. Prescribing medications without doing a thorough assessment creates unacceptable risks.

Another place to look are clinics associated with medical schools and/or training hospitals. If you live in the vicinity of this type of setting, look into their outpatient psychiatry departments. And even if you don’t live close, but you live in the same state, give a call anyway, because they may have virtual options. You can also contact the Mental Health Association in your county for lists of providers.

Asking for help is hard—but it’s the best way to go.

This process will rely on asking for help from a lot of people—and that can be a hard thing to do for many people. Hold on and reach out—you don’t have to navigate this yourself. And if you are worried about asking friends or family, you will likely be surprised that when you ask people about this, many will tell you about their own or their family’s or friend’s experiences. Mental health challenges are incredibly common. The more people you connect with, the better your chances are of finding a new doctor who will be a good fit for you or your child.