About

At PsychGuides.com, our goal is to shed light on psychological disorders, allowing you to recognize, understand, and cope with these challenging diagnoses in yourself, friends and family members.

Our guides provide insight into anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), addiction, and many other psychological issues from multiple perspectives. We hope the mental and behavioral health information will inform you, enlighten you, and better equip you to manage these disorders.

Originally built as a repository for a series of studies and surveys, we are remaking PsychGuides to be more informative, more accessible to people of all ages, to help you make better decisions for yourself and the people you care about.

Ensuring your mental health is of the utmost importance if you want to lead a healthy, happy life, so PsychGuides wants to be a resource to support that.

Psychguides.com Content and Contributors

The content provided on Psychguides.com features valuable information to help you and your loved ones determine your needs when it comes to seeking treatment for drug or alcohol abuse. We strive to provide accurate and up-to-date information available in the field of addiction medicine and behavioral health, and have enlisted an acclaimed team of authors, treatment professionals, and editorial experts to write, review, and update content to check that it meets our high editorial standards. Some of our reviewers include:

• Scot Thomas, MD: University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
• Dan Wagener, MA: Counseling Psychology, Lewis & Clark College
• Lauren Brande, MA: Psychology, Boston University
• Nicolle Monico, BA: Journalism, Biola University

For permission to reproduce content, please contact us.

Ethics

We commit to high ethical standards, in the interest of being as helpful as possible to those seeking treatment. Our content is impartial and unbiased. We do not endorse or subscribe to any particular recovery method, and we believe that the personal decision to seek treatment is one that should be done autonomously and with the support of all possible information.

We hold ourselves to the highest level of financial integrity, and we do not sell or broker admissions, or engage in unethical “consultant contracts.” If you encounter any marketing practices based on calls made to centers or helplines listed on this site that you feel are deceptive, unethical, or misleading, contact us and we will do our best to correct the situation and help you find a trustworthy provider.

Identifying an Appropriate Treatment Provider

The process of finding a treatment provider can feel overwhelming. Resources, like facility websites or Psychguides.com and the following guide, can help you determine which options are best for you or your loved one.

• Identify proper accreditation and licensure. Appropriate state licensure is important in determining what services and levels of care are permissible to be rendered at a treatment center. Some facilities voluntarily obtain accreditation from the Joint Commission or CARF, indicating that they have met quality and safety standards that go beyond those required by the state.
• Determine if the program is a clinical match. Successful outcomes rely on appropriate clinical care. There is no one-size-fits-all method to treatment. When searching for treatment, ask an admissions counselor for details on the clinical program. Are the methodologies utilized evidence-based (meaning scientifically proven to produce better outcomes)? Does the treatment center employ medically licensed healthcare providers? Will the center provide the name and credentials of its providers? Has the treatment center published any outcome studies? Make note of the questions you are asked by the admissions team, and if they ask you for your medical history. This will help you and the facility’s staff determine if your needs match with the clinical program offered.
• Assess your financial options. Discuss with your insurance provider or an admissions counselor if treatment is “in-network.” If your insurance provider will not cover treatment or a portion of treatment, determine what additional expenses you may have to cover ahead of time, and ask if payment plans are available.
• Get as much information as possible. Read about the staff’s experiences, skills, and licenses online, and view videos and photos and read reviews to “see” what the treatment experience will be like. Ask an admissions counselor about how the intake, treatment, and discharge process work, and about what happens after treatment.
• Look for red flags and possible warning signs. Some treatment centers advertise a “cure” or an unrealistic success rate. Others may only ask you about your ability to pay, and then determine a “fit” without getting any medical or clinical information about you. Some possible bad actors will even offer you gifts, cash incentives, help with obtaining insurance, or free travel. These are possible signs of illegal or unethical behaviors that can possibly harm you or your loved one.

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