In April, a patient came in for a regular checkup with their primary care provider (PCP). He had specific questions about his physical health to discuss, but what he didn’t expect was to be asked about his mental health.
“Most of the time, we only go to the doctor for physical health and mental health is forgotten about. But my PCP brought it up proactively, it was nice to have someone to suggest new things.” Carbon Health Patient in San Francisco.
What followed was a treatment plan for stress, with regular check-ins, that helped him address something he hadn’t even been planning to bring up that day.
Stories like this make us happy, because we love to provide holistic care to our patients. But they also remind us that we have work to do. Too many people don’t realize mental health is already part of their primary care at Carbon.
“Embedding behavioral health into primary care transforms treatment from reactive visits into whole-person care—addressing the mental, emotional, and physical drivers of health in one place, at the moment patients need it most.” Dr. Acey Albert, National Medical Director - Primary Care.
In this post, we’ll dive into the strong connection between your mental and physical health, how we can help support mental health concerns, and that getting started might be easier than you’d expect.
Mental health refers to your emotional and psychological well-being, including how you think, feel, and navigate daily life. And how you feel mentally has a direct affect on your physical health. For example, happiness contributes to lower blood pressure and better sleep. On the other hand, stress, anxiety, and depression can show up physically as high blood pressure, fatigue and headaches, and even chronic pain.
This is why we ask about your mental health at every primary care visit. It’s how we can help identify smaller issues before they become bigger or unmanageable. It’s the same reason we’d encourage you to come into our urgent care clinics for nagging symptoms before turning into an emergency!
“We built mental health into primary care because we know that for a lot of our patients, this might be the only place it would even be addressed directly. Someone being able to come in for high blood pressure and leave with a treatment plan that includes managing stress is how we practice whole-person care.” Marina Hrovat, Director of Clinic Operations
Before we continue, let’s introduce a couple terms:
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At Carbon, we use a highly accessible and effective model called CoCM (Collaborative Care Mode) that combines primary care, therapy and psychiatry.
CoCM is an evidence-based approach that brings mental health support directly into primary care. Rather than referring you out to find a therapist or psychiatrist on your own, which typically happens, your Carbon care team works together on your behalf.
Once you and your PCP have identified that you may benefit from our CoCM services, your care team includes:
“CoCM was something I’d never heard of before joining Carbon Health. It felt like a newer approach and that appealed to me, because I’m curious about finding different ways to help people feel better and increase access to mental health services. That culture of being open to learning is what drove me to work here.” Annalise Libera Diego, Behavioral Health Coordinator
Our approach is focused and time-bound, typically 3-6 months, in order to reach specific, defined goals. Here are a few examples of the people who benefit from CoCM:
Here’s how it compares to therapy or psychiatry alone:
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“Through therapy, medication management, or both, we help patients get back to a functioning level. We decide together how often to meet and a lot of patients like that flexibility, especially if they have therapy fatigue from past experiences.” Sindy Villier, Behavioral Health Care Manager
Getting support for mental health can seem like a big, long, intensive commitment (especially the way it’s portrayed in pop culture like Good Will Hunting or Couples Therapy). In reality, most people we see at Carbon aren’t in crisis. They’re going through a rough patch and want a little support to get through it.
Here are some of the concerns we hear and what we want you to know.
“I’m nervous about talking to someone”
“It probably won’t work for me anyway”
“I already have a therapist/psychiatrist I like”
“I don’t have time for this”
“I can’t afford it”
If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to message your PCP. There are many reasons CoCM may not be a fit for you, but confusion shouldn't be one of them.
Your first visit is a little different from the rest. It’s a 60 minute, virtual “intake session” where you and your specialist get to know each other, talk about your goals for the program, and confirm that CoCM is the right fit for what you’re hoping to achieve. From there, your bi-weekly, 30-minute sessions begin.
You don’t need to be in crisis to get help with your mental health. If something has been weighing on you, from sleep to stress or a feeling you just aren’t sure about, that’s enough to bring it up with your PCP.
Special thanks to our primary care providers and teams nationwide, and to our CoCM leadership who make this possible, especially Dr. Acey Albert, Annalise Libera Diego, Marina Hrovat, and Sindy Villier.
