Skip to main content

Harborside Psych

New Clients
Contact us
(508) 876-3448

Functional Psychiatry for Darien, CT

Unlike a traditional psychiatric work-up, the functional medicine approach takes the whole person into account. Harborside uses targeted testing to assess for underlying deficiencies and physiological concerns that may be driving poor mental health, rather than starting and stopping at a symptom checklist. In Darien, where households are used to interviewing specialists carefully and paying out of network for the clinician who fits, that distinction tends to matter. You are not choosing between whoever has an opening. You are evaluating an approach, and deciding whether it is the right one for you or your family member.

Find a Clinician

Functional Psychiatry for people in Darien, CT

Darien residents who look into functional psychiatry are often already health-literate. Many have worked with integrative or functional medicine providers for physical health and want their mental health care to reflect the same standard: a clinician who asks about sleep, diet, hormones, gut health, thyroid function, nutrient status and stress load, not just mood and symptoms in isolation. That is the premise behind this service. It does not replace medication or therapy when those are appropriate. It adds a layer of physiological assessment that a standard fifteen-minute medication check often skips.

This page describes how that care works for people in Darien, delivered entirely by video.

How telehealth care actually works

Harborside is based in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, and delivers care to patients across Connecticut, including Darien, by telehealth. There is no office to visit. Appointments happen over secure video from wherever you are: home, a private room at work, or anywhere you have a reliable internet connection, a computer or smartphone, and a webcam and microphone. No special software or technical skill is required.

An initial functional psychiatry evaluation is longer than a typical intake, because it covers physical health history, current symptoms, prior labs, medications and supplements, and lifestyle factors in enough detail to identify what testing might be useful. Follow-up appointments are shorter and are scheduled at an interval that fits your situation, often every few weeks at first and then further apart as things settle into a routine. If lab testing is ordered, it is typically done through a local or national lab near you, and results are reviewed together at a follow-up visit. If medication is part of the plan, prescriptions are sent electronically to a pharmacy of your choosing in Darien or elsewhere in Connecticut.

What we treat

Functional psychiatry at Harborside is used alongside standard evaluation and treatment for conditions such as depression, anxiety, attention and focus difficulties, mood instability, chronic fatigue with a mental health component, and situations where standard treatment has not accounted for physical contributors like thyroid irregularities, nutrient deficiencies, or hormonal shifts. It is also relevant for people who want a fuller picture before starting or adjusting medication, including stimulant or other controlled medications when clinically appropriate, since those decisions carry more weight when a physiological baseline has not been checked.

This is not a replacement for emergency care or for conditions that require immediate stabilization. It is a way of practicing medication management and psychiatric care with more information on the table.

What the first appointment involves

The first visit is a conversation, not a procedure. Your clinician will ask about your mental health history, current symptoms, sleep, diet, energy, menstrual or hormonal history where relevant, past lab work, and any medications or supplements you already take. You will talk through what has and has not helped before. Based on that conversation, your clinician may recommend specific lab testing, propose a medication approach, refer you to the therapy team, or some combination of these. You leave the first appointment with a plan, not a diagnosis handed down without explanation.

Who our clinicians are

Medication management and functional psychiatry at Harborside are performed by psychiatric nurse practitioners: Rachel Egan, RN PMHNP-BC, who is also Harborside’s clinical director, Emily Pardue, RN PMHNP-BC, and Kirstin Ritchie, RN PMHNP-BC. Each is qualified to evaluate, diagnose and prescribe for mental health conditions, and each brings the functional lens of looking at physiology alongside symptoms. Full bios and credentials for each clinician are on the team page.

Therapy is delivered by Harborside’s licensed therapy team: Hannah Legesse, LICSW, Tori Mahoney, LMHC, Jacquelyn Duford, LCMHC ATR, and Lexie Carchedi, LCSW. Jacquelyn is also a registered art therapist. If your care plan includes therapy alongside medication management, these are the clinicians who provide it.

What it costs

Harborside is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly for appointments. Current fees for an initial and a follow-up appointment are listed on the pricing page, and questions about cost can be answered before anything is booked.

Getting started

If you want to move forward, the next step is scheduling an initial evaluation. You can ask questions about fit, testing, or cost beforehand, before committing to an appointment. Care is delivered by video to patients in Darien and throughout Connecticut, so there is no travel involved on your end at any point in the process.

Contact Us

Frequently Asked Questions

Is functional psychiatry the same as functional medicine?

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For mental health crisis support, call or text 988. Harborside does not provide emergency or after-hours care.

This page is educational and is not medical advice. It does not create a provider-patient relationship. Reviewed by Rachel Egan, RN PMHNP-BC, Clinical Director. Last reviewed: {LAST_REVIEWED}.

No. Whether labs make sense is decided together at the first visit, based on your history and symptoms.

Bring it to your first appointment. Existing results can often be used instead of repeating tests.

No. Labs are typically billed separately by the lab itself and may be partly covered by insurance depending on the plan.

Yes. It’s meant to work alongside an existing therapist or primary care provider, not replace them.

Functional psychiatry includes the same prescribing and monitoring, plus a review of physical health factors like sleep, nutrition, and lab markers.

If you need help right now

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For mental health crisis support, call or text 988. Harborside Psychiatrics does not provide emergency or after-hours care.

Contact Us