Mental Health Clinic in Maplewood, NJ

A mental health clinic, in the most precise sense, is an outpatient facility where licensed clinicians assess, diagnose, and treat psychiatric conditions — without the 24-hour inpatient infrastructure of a hospital. Maplewood Mental Health Clinic fits that definition exactly. We offer psychiatric evaluation, medication management, and brief supportive therapy for patients ages 12 and older, in person at our Maplewood office and by telehealth for New Jersey patients when clinically appropriate.

What we are not is equally important. We are not an emergency room, a crisis stabilization unit, or a residential treatment facility. We do not have on-call clinicians available at 3 a.m. We cannot admit patients to inpatient care. If you are experiencing a psychiatric emergency right now, the right number to call or text is 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, free and available 24 hours a day). If there is immediate physical danger, call 911. Those services exist precisely because outpatient clinics like ours cannot replace them.

As a Board-Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC), my scope of practice includes comprehensive psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, medication management, and brief psychotherapy. What falls outside that scope: inpatient admission, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), formal neuropsychological testing, and court-ordered evaluations. I am transparent about scope because referring patients to the right level of care at the right time is part of doing this work well.

If what you need is a knowledgeable, consistent clinician who will evaluate your symptoms carefully, discuss your options honestly, and build a treatment plan that fits your life — that is exactly what this clinic is built to provide.

Most of the patients I see are dealing with one or more of the conditions that sit at the center of outpatient psychiatric practice: ADHD, depression, anxiety and panic, bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, and geriatric mental health, including dementia. I also work with patients on the autism spectrum who need medication management alongside their other supports, and with teens navigating anxiety, mood, and attentional challenges that are affecting school and daily life.

Diagnosis here follows DSM-5-TR criteria and, when appropriate, validated screening instruments — the PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, ASRS for ADHD, and others depending on your presentation. That rigor matters because several of these conditions share symptoms, and the wrong diagnosis drives the wrong treatment. When the right diagnosis is clear, we move forward. When the picture is more complex, I take the time to sort it out before committing to a plan.

Every evidence-based treatment pathway we follow is drawn from current clinical guidelines. For mood disorders, I look to APA practice guidelines. For ADHD, APSARD. For OCD, IOCDF consensus statements. The goal is never to apply a protocol by rote — it is to understand what the evidence says, apply it to your specific situation, and adjust as your response evolves.

Many patients who come here are already working with a therapist, a primary care physician, or another specialist. That is not a complication — it is usually a strength. The split-treatment model, where a therapist handles ongoing psychotherapy and a PMHNP handles medication management and brief supportive sessions, is one of the most common and effective structures in outpatient psychiatric care.

With your written consent, I share treatment summaries and medication updates with the other clinicians on your team. That means your therapist knows what medications you are on and at what doses, and your primary care physician knows what psychiatric conditions are being treated and with what. Lab orders for medication monitoring — thyroid panels, metabolic screens, lithium levels — can be coordinated through your PCP so you are not duplicating appointments. When a referral is needed in either direction, I make a warm handoff rather than handing you a list of phone numbers.

If you are not currently working with a therapist but believe you would benefit from more intensive talk-based work alongside medication, I can point you toward colleagues in the area who specialize in the conditions we are treating together. Coordination is part of the care.

The office is located at 1585 Springfield Avenue, Maplewood, NJ 07040 — a main-street address in the center of Maplewood. Free on-site parking is available, and the NJ Transit 31 bus stops approximately one block from the entrance. The building is accessible, with a ground-level entrance and no stairs required to reach the office.

In-person hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Evening and weekend hours are not currently offered. Telehealth appointments follow the same schedule and are available to New Jersey residents who meet our scope of practice and prefer to be seen from home, work, or wherever is most convenient. Both modalities are covered consistently across the plans listed for the practice; we verify your specific plan and benefits before the first paid visit.

This clinic is an outpatient practice. We are not a crisis service, we do not have after-hours on-call coverage, and we cannot provide emergency psychiatric intervention. If you are in crisis right now, please use the resources below — they exist for exactly this moment.

Step one: Call or text 988 — the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can call or text from anywhere in the United States. Trained counselors are available immediately, including for mental health crises that are not specifically about suicide.

Step two: If you or someone near you is in immediate physical danger, call 911. Emergency medical services can respond, stabilize, and transport to an emergency department when the situation requires it. Do not wait for a clinic appointment in a life-threatening situation.

New Jersey residents: The NJ Hopeline at 855-654-6735 is a state-specific crisis line available around the clock for residents across New Jersey. It connects callers with local crisis counselors familiar with New Jersey's mobile crisis response teams and community mental health infrastructure.

After a crisis: if you are an established patient and you have accessed crisis services, please let us know at your next scheduled visit. Teresa follows up on crisis events as part of ongoing care and coordinates with crisis teams or inpatient providers when that coordination is clinically appropriate and authorized. Your safety is the priority.