How it works
How a first visit unfolds.
Five steps from clicking book to a written plan. The hour is the conversation, not an intake. The same clinician sees you every visit going forward.
Step 1
Book a time
Five minutes. Your slot is held instantly. No phone tag, no eligibility call before you book.
The schedule shows the next two weeks. You pick a clinician or let the soonest-available rule pick for you. Either way, the person you pick is the person you will see every visit going forward.
Your slot locks the moment you confirm. A confirmation email arrives within minutes. The intake form arrives within the hour.
If you are in crisis, this is not the path. Please call or text 988. Feel August is not a crisis service. We can begin care once you are stable.
Step 2
Fill out the intake
A short private form. About five minutes. Your clinician reads it before the visit.
The form asks what brought you in, what you have tried, what you are taking now, and a brief history. Skip anything you would rather discuss in person.
We will not share what you write with anyone outside your care team. The form lives behind the same encryption that protects the rest of your record.
Within 24 hours of when you book, our billing team verifies your insurance and emails you your confirmed cost. You do not need to call your carrier.
Step 3
Meet your clinician
Sixty minutes by secure video. Your clinician will not type while you talk.
The visit opens with what brought you here, in your words. Your clinician has already read the intake; they will not ask you to repeat it.
From there, the conversation moves at the pace it needs. Sleep, attention, mood, what is working, what is not, what you have tried. Medications get the same care whether you arrive on them or not. We scrutinize the whole regimen, not just add to it.
If the hour says a prescription fits, you will leave with one. If it says hold off, we explain why. Either way, you understand the reasoning before the visit ends.
There is no rolling diagnostic clock counting down to fifteen minutes. The visit is sixty minutes because sixty minutes is what a first conversation needs.
Step 4
Receive your written plan
Within 24 hours. What you discussed, what is next, any prescriptions.
The plan arrives by secure email the next business day. It is short on purpose: what we observed, what we are doing about it, what to watch for, when to come back.
If a medication was prescribed, the pharmacy has it already and the plan tells you what to expect in the first two weeks. If a referral was made, the plan tells you who and when.
A bill follows separately. One sentence, one charge, the amount we already told you.
Step 5
Stay with the same person
The same clinician, every visit going forward. Twenty-minute follow-ups at the cadence that fits.
Most patients book a follow-up within three to four weeks of the first visit, then settle into monthly or quarterly visits depending on what they are working on. The first six months average four visits across our practice.
Returning visits are twenty minutes. The same clinician opens with what is different since you last spoke. Your story carries between visits because your clinician remembers your last one.
If the relationship is not the right one, you can switch to another Feel August clinician at any time. The continuity only matters if it is the right relationship.
A few principles
What we do not do.
Honest scope keeps the practice the kind of practice it is.
- We do not prescribe controlled substances on a first visit. When clinically indicated, we prescribe them in subsequent visits with the diagnostic clarity that requires. We do not prescribe benzodiazepines for chronic anxiety.
- We do not see patients under 18. If you are looking for adolescent care, we will refer you to a colleague who specializes.
- We are not crisis services. If you are in crisis, please call or text 988 or go to your nearest emergency department. We can begin care once you are stable.
- We do not provide substance use disorder treatment or eating disorder programs as standalone services. We can manage co-occurring substance use as part of psychiatric care where appropriate. When a situation calls for dedicated addiction treatment, inpatient or residential care, a specialized eating disorder program, or active psychosis management, we will recognize that and refer you somewhere appropriate.
- We do not balance-bill. The amount we email you after you book is the amount you will pay.