Aster Mental Health

Working under the supervision of Dr. Shahrzad Sims, Aster Mental Health is a rehabilitation center for people fighting a variety of mental health disorders. Dr. Sims has a dual board certification and has completed her psychiatric training at Harvard Medical School. At Aster Rehab, she continues to provide high-quality care and service in collaboration with a team of medication management clinicians and therapists.

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Appointments at Aster Rehab are easier to request through the online portal or direct call. People who are unable to attend the rehab in person to seek help can consider choosing telehealth services currently available through the entire Massachusetts. To make treatment more affordable, the rehab works with most commercial insurance plans, such as Tufts, Harvard Pilgrim, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Optum.

What Aster Mental Health Treats

According to the official website, Aster Mental Health Rehab provides services and treatment for the following psychiatric issues:

Anxiety

As one of the most common mental health disorders, anxiety can cause an uncontrollable and overwhelming dread of everyday situations.

Depression

Also known as clinical depression or major depressive disorder, this psychiatric condition can affect both adults and young ones, affecting the way they feel, think, and function in daily life. To get a diagnosis of depression, the symptoms must persist for at least two consecutive weeks.

Postpartum Issues

The experienced team at Aster Mental Health is equipped to help women going through postpartum. These experts support them through tough times and help them manage their extreme sadness, exhaustion, and depressive feelings that may be hindering them from taking care of themselves and the newborn.

Bipolar Disorder

This condition includes unusual shifts in energy, mood, activity levels, and the ability to perform everyday tasks. These apparent changes in energy, mood, and activity can vary, sometimes making people feel highly energetic and elated (mania) and making them hopeless and sad during other times (depression).

Phobia

A phobia is an extreme, irrational fear that an individual experiences regarding a place, situation, object, or living creature. The threats associated with these fears can lead to severe distress, often out of proportion to the threat presented. Upon facing the cause of distress, people with phobias often experience severe panic attacks, preventing them from functioning normally in their daily lives.

Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is a subtype of anxiety characterized by sudden, overwhelming fear or stressful feeling without any threat of danger. The symptoms of panic attacks may include stomach and chest pain, sweating, difficulty breathing, and numbness in extremities. These panic attacks can occur at any time and place without prior warning, making patients live in fear of having another attack at any time.

Schizophrenia

This severe mental health disorder can distort a person’s feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Sufferers frequently experience delusions, hallucinations, loss of pleasure, and reduced speaking and can be out of touch with reality.

Treatment Programs at Aster Rehab

Following are the treatment programs available at Aster Rehab:

Psychiatric Medication Management

Aster Mental Health offers appointments for psychiatric medication management for both existing and new patients. These appointments involve sessions with world-class providers who have completed training at prestigious institutes like Boston University and Harvard. New patients have to attend an intake appointment lasting 50 minutes to help the providers collect relevant information about their background and current symptoms. Following the conclusion of the first session, the attending expert will determine and schedule follow-up appointments as needed.

The treatment team at Aster includes physicians, social workers, counselors, and nurse practitioners. This fully integrated team is available to assist patients depending on their mental health disorders. However, for those already working with a therapist, rehab only provides medication management.

On the first appointment of the medication management program, a provider will meet with the client and ask them about their experiences, symptoms, and background mental health. While the session includes many questions from providers, they will repeatedly encourage clients to speak more about themselves to understand what is happening to them. At the end of the session, the expert will use the collected information to formulate and present clients with a treatment plan. This initial treatment plan may include medication, lifestyle changes, therapy, and every other thing that the provider believes can benefit clients. All providers at Aster believe in the healing power of holistic approaches. Moreover, they will customize each plan according to patient needs.

The initial treatment plan is not fixed and can be adjusted and refined as patients return for future visits based on their progress. However, the experts at Aster clearly and confidently provide information on what to expect during treatment, the frequency and duration of treatment, and all other questions that clients may have in mind. Once the provider and client reach an agreement regarding treatment, the rehab will start providing the necessary services at once on an ongoing, regular basis.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Also known as TMS, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation makes sure of focused magnetic pulses to activate the inactive synaptic areas in the brain. Once these connections are awake, they can impact the neurotransmitter level, making a recovery from long-term depression easier. For TMS, Aster Mental Rehab partners with NeuroStar, one of the most prominent manufacturers of TMS devices. Each treatment session takes place in modern and comfortable offices of the facility.

Experts delivering TMS are highly educated and trained in providing therapy safely and effectively. According to rehab, the only reported side effect of TMS is pain on the treatment site; however, this tends to resolve within the first week.

Financial Assistance at Aster Mental Health

For clients requiring financial assistance to pay an outstanding invoice or access care, the Aster rehab team provides the options mentioned below. Unfortunately, paying on a sliding scale is currently unavailable.

Payment Plans

Clients interested in getting a payment plan to cover their bills over time can directly contact the billing office by phone. The team will analyze the financial situation and set a monthly amount to be paid by the client to cover the total costs over six months.

CareCredit

The Aster Mental Health team accepts the CareCredit credit card to help clients pay for their healthcare. This allows them to pay online at a time of their preference, such as the time of care, post-care, or even 30 days before the appointment.

For specific financial assistance and programs, the rehab recommends getting in touch directly.

FAQs

Who is included in the treatment team at Aster Mental Health?

The practitioners and physicians at Aster Mental Health are all board-certified and highly trained in treating various mental health issues. They follow a methodical diagnosis and treatment approach that centers around providing counseling, medical treatment, and lifestyle changes.

Does Aster Mental Health Rehab accept health insurance?

Aster Mental Rehab has collaborated with various commercially-available insurance providers, such as Aetna, Cigna, and United Healthcare. The rehab advises to get in touch with your insurance company to understand any copays, deductibles, or coinsurance to expect if you seek treatment at Aster. Unfortunately, Aster Mental Health does not accept Medicaid, Medicare, or MassHealth plans.

How long will it take to complete TMS treatment at Aster?

The first TMS treatment session at Aster is called a mapping session, which continues for 60 minutes, giving experts enough time to identify the exact area of the brain to target. Following this, each subsequent session lasts 20 minutes. A single course of TMS includes up to 36 treatment sessions, meaning clients may need to come to the clinic every working day for 6 weeks.

Is it allowed to bring kids to treatment?

The team at Aster Mental Health welcomes all clients to bring their kids. Some of its qualified staff members have experience handling kids, meaning the kids will be in safe hands as their parents receive treatment. The rehab also provides various sanitized toys, such as building blocks, in addition to healthy snacks to feed on. The facility also has various televisions in the office for kids to watch their favorite shows.

What do Aster Mental Health Rreviews say?

Most reviews about Aster Mental Health are positive, calling it a top-notch place to seek psychiatric help. Others have mentioned how the staff members and psychiatrists are very cooperative and helpful.