Frequently asked questions

At MindWork Group, our focus is on people’s capacity to learn, grow, and engage in relationships with others by developing a mind capable of working with other people. This requires:

• Neuropsychiatric stability

• Emotional Regulation

• Mentalization

• Mental flexibility

• Grieving Capacity

We achieve this through various psychotherapeutic approaches, therapeutic community, and necessary medical intervention.  Rather than an exclusive focus on symptoms, we see the true goal of treatment as one’s increasing capacity to build a satisfying life through an improved relationship with one’s own mind, the minds of others and the world generally. true goals of treatment. While this sometimes follows from symptom reduction alone, people who have had long periods of illness, trauma, substance abuse, or developmental issues may need much more support to be able to lead satisfying lives.

In addition to offering psychiatric treatment and psychotherapy, MindWork Group offers an Intensive Outpatient Program, or IOP. Our patients do not live at our facility full time as they receive treatment with us.  Rather, our patients continue to live at home or choose among multiple housing options, including Kairos House (our supportive housing). As they engage in daily treatment, we attend to our patients’ life commitments so that we can guide them through the treatment and recovery process while they can maintain their obligations at home and at work.

You’ll spend several hours a day at our outpatient office in Baltimore. We will work together closely and intensively to understand your current difficulties, ​symptoms and relationships. will explore how you deal with stressors and make sense of maladaptive coping strategies you may have developed. Together, we will work to regulate your anxiety, manage any pain, set acceptable boundaries within your relationships, make healthier life choices and develop coping skills.

There are several types of people who are ideal candidates for an intensive outpatient program:

• You have already been to a residential treatment facility but need a bit more support to transition back into your life successfully and prevent relapse.

• You know you need substantial help but are at a loss as to how to proceed. Treatment in your community has not led to sufficient improvement, resulting in ongoing disability or poor functioning.

• You feel stuck or have plateaued in outpatient treatment.

• You have a strong support system at home and work to help you remain in recovery.

• You are a busy professional, or you run your own business and it’s not feasible to take the time off to attend a residential program.

• You prefer a comfortable setting with smaller groups and more individual attention.

• You do not require 24-hour nursing care.

• You prefer to live at home or in a hotel rather than a hospital to access more intensive treatment.

• You would prefer to spend weekends at home rather than in a hospital or residential treatment center.

• You want treatment recommendations to be made between our treatment team and the patient/family without the interference of third party payers or insurance companies.

• You would like a comprehensive evaluation and treatment recommendations as a second opinion or consultation to help your current treaters.

• You prefer to have intensive outpatient treatment that includes several hours of 1:1 therapy a week in addition to group therapy with experienced leaders and vetted peers.

Choosing the correct level of care is critical in getting appropriate and successful treatment.  In broad terms, levels of care include:

• Inpatient: A locked unit at a hospital for people who cannot be safely treated in the community. This is appropriate if someone is intent on hurting themselves or their thinking is so disorganized that they are unable to take care of their basic needs in the community.  Stays at this level of care are generally 3-5 days and focus entirely on addressing acute safety concerns and  Close observation and 24 hour nursing care are provided as well as daily contact with a physician or nurse practitioner. 

• Residential: An unlocked therapeutic setting for people who have severe illness that cannot be managed on an outpatient basis, without the acuity or safety concerns that would require  the containment and observation of a locked inpatient unit.  Stays at this level of care tend to last weeks or months rather than days and give a treatment team the time to get to know people well enough to actually address underlying causes of illness.  Being out of the home environment is necessary for many who have difficult family situations or maladaptive behaviors that cannot be managed at home such as eating disorders, severe substance use disorders, OCD or PTSD. 

• Partial Hospital Program (PHP) /Intensive Outpatient Treatment (IOP): Several hours a day of treatment provided to people who are living in the community while they attend daily groups. Length of stays tend to be shorter (days to weeks) as the focus is more medical and psychoeducational than psychotherapeutic.  Groups tend to be larger and are often not led by psychotherapists.  These programs tend to be step-downs from inpatient programs at the same institution. 

• Outpatient: Patients have appointments with practitioners in their offices or virtually from home. This level of care is effective and successful for patients who have stabilized in their treatment and have a good connection with providers who know them well. For many others, this level of care becomes fragmented and not frequent enough, involving multiple specialists and often poor communication in coordinating care. Patients may benefit from more frequent psychiatric visits or more intensive psychotherapy approaches, but these options may be unavailable or difficult to access.  How do I choose a program or tell which ones are high quality?

This is often much more difficult than it should be.  The credentialing bodies responsible for reviewing programs often look at the minimum requirements and programs are graded on a pass/fail basis.  Programs can experience significant changes with management and/or staff turnover such that a program can be great one month and poor the next.  Even places with great reputations overall can have ups and downs. 

Generally, nonprofit organizations tend to be better than for-profit entities.  It is often the case that a for-profit company will buy a nonprofit with a good reputation and fire a large number of veteran staff members and change the ethos such that profit comes before people.  Insurance companies and for-profit companies exist to make money, not take care of people.  

Online reviews are not a great way to choose a program.  In behavioral health the most dissatisfied people often post anything at all, and there are many complicated reasons why patients leave programs without getting their desired results. Programs are unable to respond due to confidentiality rules while unhappy patients can say whatever they want. Happy customers are generally grateful yet quiet, as they complete their treatment and move forward, often mindful of their own privacy needs.

When you look at a program’s website, see if there are bios of all or majority of the staff. You may also inquire if the staff listings are up to date on the website.  A place that does not promote its staff is likely a place with high turnover.  

Beware online clearinghouses that will find a program for you. Some of them literally have someone in the background shopping your case to places while you are on the phone, and they sell you to the highest bidder.  

Talking to local practitioners who have some knowledge of a place but don't work for them is also a great way to get a read on a program.  Your outpatient treater should be able to reach out to their professional network and do some of this legwork.  

Ask about the level of experience of the staff.  Younger staff, recently out of training, can do good work, but they need the support of more experienced practitioners working alongside them.  If the bulk of people providing care are in their first year or two out of graduate school or residency, this can mean high turnover or lack of importance placed on experience and wisdom in the profession.  

Take a tour of the facility if you can.  Is it modern and comfortable or dingy and overcrowded?

Yes! Please check out our “meet our staff” page.

Our psychiatrists will be able to review your medication regimen, offer consultation, and prescribe medications as appropriate.

• Psychiatric consultation

• Psychotherapy

• Psychoanalysis

• Medication management

• Professional consultation and supervision

• Substance use disorder treatment

Everyone has an array of emotions coming into treatment.  Often people are anxious, excited, sad, relieved, irritable, or even angry. Meeting new people and having to learn the routines of a new situation are difficult under the best of circumstances, but people entering treatment are never at their best, making this transition even more challenging.  Many people are afraid of trying new things, letting go of old ways of coping, or facing hard truths they have been trying to avoid or forget can be daunting and overwhelming.  We understand this and will do our best to make your entry into MindWork group a positive, generative experience.  

You will meet the key members of your treatment team on day one including your psychiatrist, primary therapist and family therapist.  You will be oriented to the program space and routines. Many times you will be able to say hello to some of the current program participants in the office. On your second day you will attend groups and meet your peers in the program. Patients often report that engagement and connection with peers in group are some of the most transformative elements of the program.