# Psychiatry Practices > Psychiatry here is two disciplines done properly: an evaluation that actually listens before it concludes, and medication care that keeps listening after it prescribes. **Source:** https://www.uniquembhs.com/psychiatry-practices **Practice:** Unique Minds Behavioral Health Services, LLC. Baltimore, MD: 6810 Park Heights Ave, Suite C6, Baltimore, MD 21215 · Washington, DC: 1402 North Capitol St NW, #1, Washington, DC 20002 · Delaware, OH: 1 W Winter St, Suite 211, Delaware, OH 43015 **Phone:** (443) 538-8400 **Clinically reviewed by:** Dr. Ophilia Mbah, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC **Last reviewed:** 2026-08-11 ## Quick answer Unique Minds provides outpatient psychiatric care across Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Ohio. Comprehensive psychiatric evaluations that establish what is actually going on, and ongoing medication management that adjusts treatment with you over time. Three board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioners see children and adults, in person at our offices or by secure video. ## Two services, one discipline Everything psychiatric we do is one of two things. The [psychiatric evaluation](/psychiatry-practices/psychiatric-evaluation) is the front door: a thorough, unhurried assessment that ends with a diagnosis you understand and a plan you agreed to. [Medication management](/psychiatry-practices/medication-management) is the long road: the visits where treatment gets tuned (dose by dose, month by month) until it fits your actual life, and keeps fitting as your life changes. The order is not negotiable, and that is a feature. Nobody here is prescribed anything before somebody has properly listened. ## What the first year usually looks like Psychiatric care has a shape, and knowing it in advance removes a lot of avoidable anxiety. - **The evaluation**: the long appointment where the whole history gets taken and the diagnosis and plan are agreed. Nothing is prescribed before this. - **The early follow-ups**, spaced closer together. This is when a new medication is showing what it does, when side effects appear and usually settle, and when the dose gets tuned. Missing these is the most common way treatment quietly fails. - **Finding the fit.** The first choice is a well-reasoned hypothesis, not a guarantee, and needing a dose change or a switch is an ordinary part of the process rather than a sign that something has gone wrong. - **Maintenance.** Once things are steady, visits space out to a rhythm agreed with you, focused on keeping the gains, watching for early warning signs, and adjusting as life changes. - **Reviewing the whole plan periodically**: including whether a medication is still earning its place, and whether tapering off something is now the right move. Planned stopping is part of this service, not an awkward request. Telehealth makes the frequent early appointments considerably easier to keep, which is exactly where they matter most. ## How it connects to the rest of your care Psychiatry rarely works alone. Most conditions respond best to medication and [therapy](/therapy-services) together, and our providers refer across the hall rather than pretending one tool fits everything. Where a week needs more structure than appointments can give, we say so: visits tighten, reviews come forward, and where a higher level of care is genuinely the answer we help arrange it rather than holding on. According to the [National Institute of Mental Health](https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/mental-health-medications), medication decisions work best as an ongoing collaboration between patient and prescriber, which is a national guideline and also just a description of a follow-up appointment done right. ## Where and how In person at our Baltimore and Washington, D.C. offices, Monday to Friday with Saturday by appointment, or by secure video anywhere in Maryland and the District. Evaluations and follow-ups both work by telehealth; your provider will say if anything needs a room. ## Who this is for - Symptoms that deserve a real diagnosis before any treatment starts. - Medication questions: starting, adjusting, combining or carefully stopping. - A second opinion on a diagnosis or a regimen that never quite fit. - Conditions where therapy alone has not been enough. - Care that continues: follow-ups with the same provider, not a refill machine. - Children and adults alike, in person or by video. - Several prescribers, several medications, and nobody looking at the whole picture. ## Conditions it helps with - [Depression](https://www.uniquembhs.com/depression-treatment) - [Anxiety Disorders](https://www.uniquembhs.com/anxiety-disorders-treatments) - [Bipolar Disorder](https://www.uniquembhs.com/bipolar-disorders-treatment) - [ADHD](https://www.uniquembhs.com/adhd-treatment) - [Psychotic Disorders](https://www.uniquembhs.com/psychotic-disorders-treatment) ## Services in this group - [Psychiatric Evaluation](https://www.uniquembhs.com/psychiatry-practices/psychiatric-evaluation) - [Medication Management](https://www.uniquembhs.com/psychiatry-practices/medication-management) ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between a psychiatrist and your providers? Our clinicians are doctorally prepared psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNP-BC): board-certified specialists licensed in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Ohio to evaluate, diagnose and prescribe for mental health conditions. In practice, your care looks the way psychiatric care should: evaluation, diagnosis, medication and follow-up with the same clinician. ### Do I need a referral to be seen? No referral is needed to request an appointment. You can book online or call directly. If your insurance plan has its own referral requirements, that is worth a quick check with them; our patient FAQ covers what to bring to a first visit. ### Do you treat children as well as adults? Yes: our providers see children, adolescents and adults across Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Ohio. For younger patients, evaluation and medication decisions always involve the family, and we coordinate with therapists, pediatricians and schools where that helps. ### What is the difference between psychiatry and therapy? Psychiatry diagnoses and treats mental health conditions medically: evaluation, diagnosis, and medication chosen and adjusted over time. Therapy is the talking treatment: working on thoughts, behaviours, emotions and relationships with a therapist. Neither replaces the other, and for most conditions the combination outperforms either alone, which is why both run under one practice here rather than in separate buildings. ### What happens at a first psychiatry appointment? An evaluation, not a prescription. Your provider takes the history of what brought you in, how it shows up day to day, your medical background, medications and substances, family history and what you have already tried, then asks about risk directly. It ends with an honest read of what is going on and the options explained. Some evaluations end with a therapy referral and no prescription at all, which is a good outcome. ## Sources - Mental Health Medications. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/mental-health-medications - Mental Health. MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/mentalhealth.html ## Related pages - [Therapy Services](https://www.uniquembhs.com/therapy-services) - [Patient FAQ](https://www.uniquembhs.com/mental-health-psychiatric-patient-faq) --- This page is general health information, not medical advice. In a crisis, call or text 988 (988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) any hour, or call 911 in an emergency.