ADHD Testing and Treatment New York and New Jersey – One Specialist. Two States. Complete Adult Care.
You Should Not Need Two Psychiatrists to Manage One Condition
You’re already familiar with the complexities of working across a state line – especially if you live and work in the New York-New Jersey metro – and you are already aware of the frustration of working in systems that recognize a state line as a real clinical boundary. You don’t stop with the Hudson River when it comes to ADHD. Your mental health treatment should not be either.
Dr. John C. Shershow, M.D. is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist licensed in New York and New Jersey and maintains a clinical practice in Manhattan, for over 25 years testing and treating adults with ADHD throughout the metro area. Dr. Shershow offers the entire spectrum of care for ADHD – from testing to chronic psychiatric care – in both of these states, whether you’re looking for your initial evaluation or you’ve missed out on care from a previous provider or you are searching for a broader clinical approach.
One evaluation. One clinical relationship. One treatment plan built around your actual life.
What ADHD Testing Actually Means for Adults in New York and New Jersey
ADHD testing is a term that’s a lot around and a lot misunderstood. In laymen’s terms, it sometimes suggests a standardized questionnaire, a symptom screen or some objective neurological test with a clear-cut outcome. All these are part of something that is not a proper assessment of adult ADHD. By themselves, none of them are medically adequate to make a diagnosis – or rule out a diagnosis – or to clearly differentiate ADHD from the numerous conditions that can mimic ADHD.
In New York and New Jersey, accurate ADHD testing includes a full psychiatric exam performed by a licensed psychiatrist with a knack for understanding the expression of ADHD in high-functioning adults, the impact of ADHD on anxiety and depression, and a depth of clinical understanding to create a treatment plan that considers the entire picture.
What adult ADHD testing with Dr. Shershow is not: a ten item checklist, a quick screening over the phone or digitally, or a process that always yields the same conclusion in a speedy manner.
What it is: an in-depth, personalized clinical assessment and assessment of your condition that leads to a precise diagnosis and a detailed understanding of why you have the condition and a viable treatment plan for your individual situation.
The ADHD Testing Process: What Happens in Dr. Shershow's Practice
Without an accurate diagnosis, there can be no effective treatment for ADHD. The steps in the clinical process that Dr. Shershow takes are not listed in a hurry to be efficient, they are steps that demand a careful appraisal.
Step 1 – Comprehensive Psychiatric and Developmental History
Diagnostic Basis is about understanding how attention, organisation, impulse control, and emotional regulation have been functioning throughout the person’s life from childhood through school, early career and current situation. ADHD is a pattern of life-long neurological disorders. If an evaluation fails to follow that pattern longitudinally, then it is dealing with only a partial clinical picture.
Step 2 – Current Functional Impairment Assessment
What areas of your life are your symptoms impacting? Dr. Shershow reviews how ADHD affects four areas: work performance, interpersonal functioning, finances and daily functioning, and feelings. This is not about symptom scores, but rather a true, accurate, clinical picture of your neurology in relation to your life’s challenges.
Step 3 – Full Differential Diagnosis
It is the process that distinguishes a good psychiatric assessment from a quick intake and the one most likely to have practical ramifications. While a thorough differential examination is needed, symptoms of anxiety, depression, chronic sleep disruption, burnout and subclinical mood instability can be clinically indistinguishable from those of ADHD. Presentations are common in the high-demand adult population throughout NY & NJ. If a diagnosis is not made, that treatment plan will only cover part of the picture.
Step 4 – Prior Treatment History Review
Have you done anything else already – drugs, therapy, self management – and what has been the result? This is no routine. If treatment outcomes are well understood, this can illuminate the diagnosis and avoid the re-doing of ineffective treatments.
Step 5 – Collaborative Findings Discussion
Each evaluation concludes with a straightforward, no-frills discussion of the findings of the assessment. What is there, what is not there, why and what the sensible and specific treatment choices are in the future. You do not leave a printout and with an unknown direction. You get away with clarity.
Telehealth ADHD Psychiatrist for New York and New Jersey
Dr. Shershow provides telemedicine follow-up visits for existing patients in New York & New Jersey. It is a great way for busy professionals, parents and adults that have busy schedules to continue getting psychiatric care consistently without the hassle of having to travel to an office to go to all the appointments.
First assessments are made in the flesh at his New York headquarters. Dr. Shershow’s office will work with you directly to ensure that ongoing ADHD medication management and follow up is available through telehealth, as per the current state and federal prescribing laws.
ADHD Treatment in New York and New Jersey: What Comes After an Accurate Diagnosis
Testing is a first step. Treatment is the place where clinical reconsolidation of consistency, focus and functional capacity occurs.
Medication Management – Stimulant and Non-Stimulant
Selections from stimulants and non-stimulants, dose titrations over time and monitoring and adjusting the dose according to clinical effect are all managed by Dr. Shershow when it is clinically appropriate to use medication to treat ADHD. Medications are based upon the clinical picture you have established on your evaluation, not on a general guideline. In psychiatric medicine, prescribed and actively monitored ADHD treatment is one of the most clinically effective treatments.
Integrated Treatment of Co-Occurring Conditions
If there’s anxiety or depression in conjunction with one other, as there is for a big percentage of adults, Dr. Shershow treats both conditions in the same clinical relationship. Efforts to manage ADHD with no attempts at treating the comorbid anxiety disorder or reverse are always only part of the solution. Integrated, concurrent treatment is more effective and efficient.
Long-Term Psychiatric Follow-Up
ADHD is an ongoing disorder. Continuing psychiatric treatment focuses not just on keeping a prescription – it’s about making sure treatment is still meeting your medical requirements, and that is as your life changes. How ADHD presents and responds to treatment is impacted by relationship changes, transition, aging, changes in sleep, and increased stressors. Consistent, planned ongoing communication with a psychiatrist who is familiar with your history that can sustain improvement over time.
In-Person and Telehealth Care Across Both States
Dr. Shershow treats his patients in Manhattan and in the New York City metro area. Ongoing follow up psychiatric support is possible by telehealth for adults across the state of New York State and New Jersey without the need for appointments or location. During your consultation, Dr. Shershow clearly explains the applicable hybrid care pathway in accordance with current state laws and regulations for patients requiring the management of stimulant medication.
Why Adults in New York and New Jersey Choose Dr. John C. Shershow
- Board-Certified Psychiatrist – most credentialed psychiatric specialist, dedicated to adult ADHD in particular
- Licensed in both New York and New Jersey – one provider for the entire metro area
- Over 25 years of experience testing and treating adult ADHD in the NY/NJ metro area
- One-to-one assessment – no template assessments, no assembly-line intake.
- Complete differential diagnosis routine – ADHD, anxiety and depression tested together
- Ideal medication management – accurate, closely monitored and tailored to clinical needs
- Combined treatment for ADHD and co-occurring conditions
- Face-to-face consultation in Manhattan, with telehealth follow-up statewide
- United Healthcare out-of-network benefits accepted
- Member of the American Psychiatric Association
“Professional and thoughtful in his practice. A good listener who genuinely wants the best for his patients.” — Patient Review
Schedule ADHD Testing and Treatment in New York or New Jersey
If you aren’t in tune, watchful or are still not where you would like to be in your career, relationships or quality of life, you need to get a good sense of the true situation first.
Dr. John C. Shershow, M.D. welcomes new patients for the diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD in New York City and New Jersey.
Frequently Asked Questions – ADHD Testing and Treatment NYC and NJ
Q: Can I be tested and treated for ADHD in the same practice in both New York and New Jersey?
Yes. Dr. Shershow is a licensed physician both in New York and New Jersey. Care for adults who reside in New Jersey and work in New York – or split time between New Jersey and New York – is not split, but is provided in a cohesive clinical relationship instead of across two providers. Initial evaluation is usually done face-to-face in Dr. Shershow’s Manhattan office and then can be completed on an on-going basis over telehealth in both states.
Q: How do I know if I need ADHD testing or if my symptoms are something else?
That’s what a well-done ADHD assessment should be used to determine. Various mental health conditions can manifest themselves as symptoms that are similar to ADHD: trouble focussing, mental restlessness, lack of follow-through and emotional reactivity. It can be difficult to distinguish between these conditions with no comprehensive clinical examination and differential diagnosis. There is no one right answer; it’s not guessing from a symptom checklist. It is to see a psychiatrist specializing in ADHD in adults and other clinical syndromes.
Q: How long does ADHD testing take with Dr. Shershow?
Usually, the first evaluation appointment requires 60 to 90 minutes. This enables enough time to capture the complete longitudinal history, functional impairment assessment in all relevant areas, differential diagnosis and a prior history review, and the joint discussion of the findings, which is done at the end of every assessment. Continue medication management and psychiatric review follow-up visits are usually 20 – 30 minutes.
Q: Can ADHD medication be prescribed in both New York and New Jersey through Dr. Shershow?
Yes, with the necessary clinical pathway by each state. Stimulant medications for ADHD can be prescribed in New York using telehealth after a full evaluation using real-time audio-visual communication. New Jersey currently mandates at least an in-person assessment prior to medication administration and a hybrid (telehealth) implementation for follow up. In both states non-stimulant medications are available through telehealth. During your consultation you’ll receive information from Dr. Shershow about the specific regulatory pathway that would apply to your case, prior to any decisions regarding your prescription.
Q: I have been treated for anxiety for years but feel like something is being missed. Should I pursue ADHD testing?
Yes – this is one of the most clinically relevant questions that an adult can ask. Anxiety and ADHD are the two most prevalent psychiatric disorders that co-occur in adults, and there is considerable overlap in symptomology. Many of the symptoms that often lead to restless, distracted and dis-regulated behavior in adults – ADHD – are unrecognized and the reason these years of treatment with medications have had mixed success. An in-depth evaluation of ADHD with differential diagnosis will determine if ADHD exists and whether anxiety is primary or secondary, and what the treatment plan should be to treat both conditions accurately.
Q: Do I need a referral to start ADHD testing with Dr. Shershow in New York or New Jersey?
There is no referral in both states. Please call to schedule a first visit to Dr. Shershow’s office. Having previous psychiatric, medical or psychological records that are pertinent to your history is beneficial, but a condition of booking.
Q: What if I was already diagnosed with ADHD but my current treatment is not working?
This is a very predictive and legitimate cause for another evaluation. A comprehensive clinical review is a vital resource for adults with a prior diagnosis who continue to have sub-optimally managed attention and/or who have co-occurring anxiety and/or depression that has not been treated alongside ADHD. A re-evaluation with Dr. Shershow reviews what was diagnosed in the past as well as the treatment received and the results, and it will also show you what a better treatment would look like now in your situation.
Q: Is ADHD testing via telehealth as accurate as in-person testing?
A psychiatric evaluation of ADHD is a clinical interview process that is not a physical examination, but a thorough assessment of the disorder may be performed using telehealth just as well as it is done in person. A secure video format does not impact the ability to conduct a thorough and quality diagnostic process, which involves mindful review of the longitudinal history and a differential assessment. Dr. Shershow’s Telehealth evaluations are exactly the same as in-person examinations.
Satisfied Patients
“Professional and thoughtful in his practice. Good listener. Genuinely wants the best for his patients..”
“I could not have asked for a better first visit with Dr. Shershow. He was kind, funny, intelligent and cared about my medications and what plan was best for me. “