Jayson Blair

In advance, the moral of this story is not that there is nothing that some helping hands and a little Ativan can't cure. Although, its a good combination. The experiences of a client with bipolar disorder responded me of the importance of having people in your life -- peer support -- who understand through firsthand experience what it has been like to walk in your shoes. This -- the notion that having help from someone who understands from their own experience can make a difference -- is a common mantra in the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance of Northern Virginia groups and has become a tool in the vast arsenal at Ashburn Psychological Services . Bipolar disorder usually presents itself in one of three forms: full-blown mania, hypomania and depression. In the depressed and manic states, some experience psychotic symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations. Two less common presentations of bipolar are rapid cycling, where an individual shifts from mania to depression in ...

There has been a surge in recent calls to Ashburn Psychological Services from people looking to figure out what to door with their careers or to make a occupation change. One of the questions I often get during phone consultations is about the difference between career coaches and career counselors. Though the lines between career counseling and career coaching have become blurred, there are some distinctions that can make a big difference in determining your future. Coaching is usually more individualized, results-oriented and guided by the client's agenda. Counseling and psychology often seek to fix what psychologists called pathology, whereas career counseling focuses on identifying career interests, aptitudes and creating a life skills plans that allows clients to accomplish those goals. A career coach can help you, like a career counselor, figure out where you want to be through talking and testing, but a coach usually also helps develop a plan, coach you on the interview pro...

Dr. Susan Hamilton , a noted clinical psychologist, former director of substance abuse treatment programs and the former director of mental health at the American Red Cross, began working with me today to bring the federal Substance Abuse Mental Health Administration's Recovery Month 2009 to Ashburn Psychological Services and Loudoun County in September. Taking, Dr. Hamilton's lead we are looking at distributing tons of SAMSHA literature on substance abuse and mental health in the community, offering in-service training or a lecture that includes clinicians and our substance abuse treatment alums . Looking forward to more planning with Dr. Hamilton and making a difference when it comes to recovery.

Washingtonian magazine has released its latest list of top doctors, and among the psychologists and psychiatrists, selected by peers, based on a criteria of whom their colleagues would send a friend or family member to for help, are three familiar names: the director and a psychologist from the practice (Ashburn Psychological Services), Dr. Michael Oberschneider ; the main psychiatrist at the practice, Dr. Sabah Hadi and a psychiatrist have referred dozens of peers with bipolar to over the years, Dr. Roy Stefanik . Dr. Stefanik is one of the fastest and most detailed diagnosticians I have seen, saving patients and family much time and many headaches. He also understands the depths of pharmacology and provides insight-orientation therapy that helps, in many cases, to separate behaviors from moods, to see where are intertwined and to come with a plan to address most. She has been stolen for almost a day each week by George Mason University to provide his diagnostic and pharmacology ser...

Meet with fellow contractors and colleagues at Ashburn Psychological Services today with members of a neat Springfield, Va.-based group called the Brain Injury Services Group and I wanted to pass along the link. The group's work is particularly relevant with so many veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with traumatic brain injuries, but also for folks who have taken falls, had car accidents or gone through similar experiences.

Good news -- I'm taking my life coaching work to one of the area's fastest growing psychological and psychiatric practices, Ashburn Psychological Services , a team of psychological and psychiatric professionals in Ashburn, Va. The team is run by Michael Oberschneider, Psy.D, a well-regarded clinical psychologist, his wife, Liz, a financial wunderkind. The other clinician-contractors are: Mehul V. Mankad, M.D. , a adult and forensic psychiatrist who was the former chief resident at Duke University, is considered one of the two top area psychiatrists by members of the bipolar support groups (he blends medication management and psychotherapy in a manner that is rare these days; and his ; Susan Hamilton, PhD ., a psychologist who is well-regarded by members of the group who have been treated by her and a former mental health chief at the American Red Cross; Margaret Wong, PhD., a very funny and nice child psychologist that I had met several months before when Michael helped the D...