Prepare For Your Visit
Whether you are coming in for a psychiatric evaluation, neuropsychological testing, psychotherapy, or cognitive remediation therapy, a little preparation goes a long way. This page tells you exactly what to bring, what to expect, and how to make the most of your time with our team.
Not sure which type of visit applies to you? Our FAQ page answers the most common questions about how we work, and Our Doctors page can help you understand who you will be seeing.
Preparing for a Psychiatric Evaluation
Your first appointment with one of our psychiatrists is an initial evaluation, typically 45 to 60 minutes. This is not a quick screen. It is a structured clinical conversation designed to understand you as a whole person, not just a list of symptoms.
What the psychiatrist will ask about
- Your current concerns: what has changed, when it started, and how it is affecting your daily life
- Your psychiatric history: prior diagnoses, hospitalizations, therapy, and medications that have or have not worked
- Your medical history and any current conditions, including cardiovascular, neurological, thyroid, or hormonal issues
- Your family history of psychiatric and neurological conditions
- Your sleep, appetite, energy, and substance use
- Your work, relationships, and life circumstances
Our psychiatric evaluations are conducted by board-certified psychiatrists, including Dr. Alla Iospa, MD, Konstantin Nikiforov, MD, Yana Serobyan, MD, DO, and Elizabeth Zharovsky, MD. If you are unsure what to expect clinically, our overview of what a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation actually covers explains how it differs from online questionnaires or quick screens.
What to bring
- A complete list of all current medications, including doses: prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and supplements
- Names and contact information for your primary care physician and any specialists you see regularly
- Any recent lab work or medical records, particularly thyroid panels, metabolic panels, or prior psychiatric records
- Your insurance card
- If mood, sleep, and concentration have all shifted at once and you are in your 40s or 50s, it can help to read when mood and sleep begin to change in midlife before your visit — it maps out the overlapping causes our clinicians sort through during evaluation
A note on what to say
Do not save the hardest topic for the end of the appointment. If there is something you are most concerned about, or most reluctant to mention, bring it up early. Our clinicians are not there to judge; they are there to understand. The more honest and specific you can be, the more useful the evaluation will be. If you are coming in because focus or concentration is the main concern, it may help to read when anxiety is actually executive dysfunction before your visit — it explains a pattern our clinicians see frequently and gives you language to describe what you are experiencing.
For more on what our medication management process looks like after the evaluation, that page explains how we monitor and adjust treatment over time.
Preparing for Neuropsychological Testing
Neuropsychological testing is a comprehensive assessment of cognitive functioning, including memory, attention, processing speed, executive function, and language. Testing sessions are typically longer than a standard appointment, often three to six hours, depending on the referral question, and sometimes split across two days.
Before your testing appointment
- Get a full night of sleep. Testing measures your brain’s actual performance, and sleep deprivation artificially lowers scores across nearly every domain.
- Eat a normal meal beforehand. Testing requires sustained mental effort, and arriving hungry affects your results.
- Bring your glasses, hearing aids, or any assistive devices you use regularly.
- Bring any prior testing reports if you have them, including school psychologist evaluations, IEP documentation, or previous neuropsychological or psychoeducational reports.
- Bring a list of current medications. Some medications affect cognitive performance and your evaluator needs to account for that.
- If you are bringing a child or adolescent for testing, bring any recent teacher reports, report cards, or school accommodation documentation.
- Testing is frequently requested by adults who have never had a formal evaluation but suspect ADHD, or who are noticing changes in cognitive sharpness they cannot fully explain. Two patterns we see often: ADHD in professional women that went undiagnosed for decades, and brain fog and memory changes during perimenopause that are mistaken for cognitive decline. If either resonates, testing can provide the clarity you need.
What to expect during testing
ou will complete a series of standardized tasks: some verbal, some written, some on a computer. There are no pass or fail outcomes. The goal is an accurate picture of how your brain performs across different domains, so you should work at your natural pace rather than trying to rush or second-guess.
After testing, your evaluator will score and interpret the results and prepare a written report. Results typically take two to three weeks. A feedback session is scheduled to review findings and recommendations with you directly. If you are coming to testing because of memory or concentration concerns and are unsure whether what you are experiencing is brain fog or something more persistent, brain fog vs. cognitive decline explains the clinical difference before you arrive.
If you want to understand what testing measures and why it matters before your appointment, neuropsychological testing explained is a patient-friendly overview. For children and families, is my child falling behind? explains when a developmental evaluation is appropriate. If your child or adolescent is being referred for a psychiatric evaluation rather than testing, Dr. Yana Serobyan is our board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and the clinician most families are referred to for this age group.
For psychoeducational evaluations specifically, the same preparation guidelines apply. Psychoeducational testing focuses on academic skills, learning differences, and ADHD in the context of educational performance. If you are seeking ADHD testing, bring any prior school or employer documentation of accommodations or concerns. If you are unsure whether your symptoms point to ADHD, anxiety, or both, ADHD or anxiety: how testing clarifies the difference is a useful read before your appointment.
Our Neuropsychological Evaluations are conducted by Licensed Clinical Psychologists, with extensive training in Neuropsychology Dr Yuka Cohen, PsyD, Dr. Dana Haywood, PhD, Dr. William Lu, PsyD, Dr Catherine Stolove, PhD,
Preparing for Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT)
Cognitive remediation therapy begins with an intake session before treatment starts. This session reviews your neuropsychological testing results (if available), your cognitive goals, your schedule, and any factors, including medications, sleep, and medical conditions, that may affect your progress.
Before your CRT intake
- Review any prior neuropsychological testing reports if you have them. If testing was completed at our practice, your evaluator will coordinate directly with your CRT clinician.
- Think about what cognitive areas concern you most: memory, focus, processing speed, organization, or mental stamina. The more specific you can be, the more targeted your program will be.
- Note your typical daily schedule, including work demands, screen time, exercise, and sleep patterns. Lifestyle factors directly affect cognitive performance and are part of CRT planning. Sleep in particular has a direct effect on what CRT can achieve — if sleep is disrupted, can sleep heal more than we think? explains why addressing it alongside cognitive training often produces better results.
What CRT sessions involve
Sessions are typically 60 to 90 minutes, once or twice weekly, and combine direct training tasks with strategy-building and metacognitive work. Expect home practice between sessions. Progress is gradual and cumulative; the work compounds over time.
For context on who benefits most from CRT and what conditions it addresses, the cognitive remediation therapy page covers ADHD, post-concussion symptoms, Long COVID brain fog, and cognitive difficulties related to anxiety or depression.
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Preparing for a Psychotherapy Appointment
If you are starting talk therapy at our practice, your first session is an intake. Your therapist will spend that session getting to know your history, understanding what brings you in now, and beginning to establish the goals and structure of your work together.
What to expect in the first session
- You will not be expected to share everything at once. The first session is a beginning, not a complete disclosure.
- Your therapist will ask about your current concerns, relevant history, and what you are hoping to get from therapy.
- Together, you will start to identify what kind of approach fits your situation and goals. If you are coming to therapy primarily for anxiety or attention concerns, it may help to read how ADHD looks different in professional women beforehand — many patients arrive describing burnout or anxiety and leave with a more useful framework.
Practical preparation
- There is nothing you need to bring to a therapy intake beyond yourself and a willingness to be honest.
- If you are also seeing one of our psychiatrists, your therapist can coordinate with them directly, with your consent. You do not need to manage communication between your providers.
- If you have had therapy before, it can be helpful to briefly note what worked and what did not. You do not need to prepare a formal summary.
If you are unsure whether therapy, medication, or both is the right starting point, our FAQ page addresses that question directly.
Insurance and Payment
We participate fully with Traditional Medicare and bill directly. For most commercial insurance plans, we are out-of-network providers. We submit claims on your behalf, and your insurer reimburses you directly.
Before your first visit, contact your insurance provider to confirm:
- Your out-of-network mental health benefits
- Your annual deductible and reimbursement percentage
- Whether neuropsychological testing requires prior authorization
Payment is due at the time of service. For billing questions, contact Anna, our Billing Manager, at 347-218-4216 or billing@driospa.com. For a full overview of our policies, see the Practice Policies page and our Notice of Privacy Practices.
Still Have Questions?
Our FAQ page covers the most common questions about evaluations, medication, therapy, and what to expect at your first visit. If your question is not answered there, call us at (646) 383-7575 or use our contact form.
Getting to Our Office
Dr. Iospa Psychiatry Consulting 28 W 44th Street, Suite 714 New York, NY 10036 (646) 383-7575
We are one block from Grand Central Terminal. Subway lines 4, 5, 6, 7, S, B, D, F, and M all stop within a short walk. Street-level garage parking is available nearby for patients who drive.
Telehealth appointments are available for established and new patients in New York, New Jersey, and Florida.
Still Have Questions?
Our FAQ page covers the most common questions about evaluations, medication, therapy, and what to expect at your first visit. If your question is not answered there, call us at (646) 383-7575 or use our contact form.