Joseph Guthrie, MD

Joseph’s Story

“I find fulfillment in helping patients address mental, emotional and spiritual challenges through creative and personalized approaches.” Working for Modern Psychiatry in Marion, Virginia, I provide telehealth general psychiatry services and medication management with some in-person sessions mixed in.

“A psychiatrist’s goal is to use evidence-based, evidence-informed medicine to relieve suffering, improve functioning at work and in relationships, and promote quality of life. “Those are the two most important treatment outcomes in psychiatry.” The standard to measure outcomes is always, Can an individual do well? Are they able to do good work and develop and maintain healthy relationships with their colleagues, spouses and partners, children, whatever the various roles in their life might be.

“Clients are coming to me because they’re hoping for a change. They want something to be better in their lives. It's my goal to help them define what that is, set some treatment goals, and explore effective treatment strategies.”

It’s important to first uncover what's working and what's not working in their lives, and then determine what resources will help their situation improve. It could be just the severity of symptoms that are getting in the way. It could be that those symptoms are causing very specific impairments in what they can do and how they can get along with others and experience a good quality of life.

Being able to define the problem and become aware of the sticking points and the friction points enables a mental health professional to determine a plan of care. In addition to evidence- based and evidence-informed medicine, counseling therapies can be beneficial.

An integrative approach is always best. Some individuals may have tried multiple medications and are still not getting the improvement they would like. Integrative approaches are particularly beneficial in those situations. There could be particular lab studies that can inform different complementary and alternative treatments to help reduce inflammation, improve sleep – all those components that work to alleviate symptoms, too.

“When people hit a roadblock, they're experiencing friction in their life, feeling the burden of their emotions; it becomes overwhelming and gets in the way of what they want to be and do in their life. That's typically what drives people to make an appointment and seek out help for their mood, thoughts, behavior and function.

My educational background was pre-medicine and also psychology. I completed a master's in experimental psychology and enjoyed every part of it. In medical school, I was a teaching assistant for physical diagnosis and thought I would start a family practice where I’d get to do a little bit of everything. “But then, once we were in clerkships, I was right back to heading toward psychiatry. I not only enjoyed that but also did a rotation at a state hospital in North Carolina. That’s when I knew psychiatry was what I was going to do.”

“Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals get to be creative and hear clients’ stories, and at the same time, help them relieve their symptoms, and just be able to live life.” Modern Psychiatry is all about giving people access to mental health services and helping individuals build a bridge to a better life.

“Felix [Dr. Felix Geller, Modern Psychiatry Founder] is good at pulling good people together to do good things.”