Dr. Shelley Padgett

Hi, I'm Dr. Padgett. I'm a board-certified psychiatrist focused on medication management for mood disorders, anxiety, ADHD, and sleep problems — the kind of things that often respond well to the right medication alongside good therapy, but rarely to either alone. I did my residency in New York and have spent the past sixteen years split between hospital psychiatry and outpatient private practice. Most people who come to me have already tried therapy, or are in it now, and want to know whether medication could help too. My first job is always to actually figure out what's going on — not to reach for a prescription pad in the first ten minutes.

I practice conservatively: start low, go slow, and change one thing at a time so we can actually tell what's working. I spend real time on the diagnostic picture before medication ever comes up, including screening for the things that get missed — thyroid issues, sleep apnea, substance use, ADHD hiding underneath anxiety. I work collaboratively with a client's therapist when they have one, and I'm comfortable coordinating with a primary care doctor too. I see medication as one tool among several, not the whole plan.