A psychiatrist in Wesley Chapel you can see in person, this week.

Yes. Wesley Chapel is the Ascend flagship and the in-person home base for psychiatric care in the practice. In-person evaluations and follow-ups with Anna Stouffer, PMHNP-BC, are available Monday through Friday at 27724 Cashford Circle, Suite 102, with free on-site parking. Statewide Florida telehealth is also available for patients who prefer video or need flexibility for a follow-up.

Anna Stouffer, PMHNP-BC, is the dedicated in-person psychiatric prescriber at the Wesley Chapel flagship. She is dual board-certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and a Family Nurse Practitioner, licensed in Florida, with full prescriptive authority for psychiatric medications including controlled substances when clinically appropriate. Margot Krahn, PMHNP-BC, is a second named board-certified provider based at the flagship who sees patients by Florida telehealth and in person. You pick your provider before you book and keep that same clinician every visit.

Anna Stouffer is a board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC), not a physician. She is also board-certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-BC), holds a Master of Science in Nursing, and has full prescriptive authority for psychiatric medications in Florida, including controlled substances when clinically appropriate. We use the word psychiatrist in our page title because that is the term most people search, and PMHNPs perform the core clinical work of diagnostic evaluation and medication management. If seeing an MD-credentialed psychiatrist specifically matters to you, tell us and we will be direct about that.

Most new patients schedule their initial psychiatric evaluation within one to two weeks, and same-day or next-day openings come up regularly across our two providers. Call (813) 670-3005 in the morning to ask about same-day availability. This is unusually fast for the Tampa Bay area, where the regional wait for a new-patient psychiatric appointment commonly runs three to six months.

Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, TRICARE, ChampVA, and AARP are in-network. Medicare, Medicaid, and Humana are in active credentialing; call (813) 670-3005 to confirm current status for your specific plan. Out-of-network PPO patients receive itemized superbills that typically reimburse 50 to 80 percent depending on the plan.

Yes. Once your initial evaluation establishes your diagnosis and treatment plan, many follow-up visits can be done via secure Florida telehealth instead of an in-person visit, and some patients do every visit by video. Some visits, particularly first-time evaluations for certain controlled-substance prescriptions such as ADHD stimulants, currently require an in-person visit under federal telehealth-prescribing rules, which is straightforward here because Wesley Chapel is a full in-person office. We tell you upfront which applies to you.

Yes. Wesley Chapel is the only Ascend location where psychiatry, primary care, talk therapy, and ketamine therapy all operate in the same office. Providers share one chart and can coordinate directly when your care touches more than one specialty, rather than faxing records between separate practices. A baseline lab for a mood stabilizer, a therapy referral, or a ketamine conversation for treatment-resistant depression can happen down the hall instead of at an outside facility.

Stimulant medications for ADHD are Schedule II controlled substances. Whether one is appropriate is a decision your provider makes, and an in-person visit is straightforward at our Wesley Chapel office, which is a reason many patients choose an in-person flagship over a video-only service. Once the in-person evaluation has occurred, ongoing telehealth follow-ups for the same medication are usually permitted. Non-stimulant ADHD medications are not subject to this restriction.

Depression (major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, postpartum depression), anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety), adult ADHD, bipolar I and II, PTSD, OCD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and treatment-resistant presentations that may benefit from on-site ketamine therapy. We do not provide ongoing care for primary substance use disorders, active psychosis, or eating disorders requiring a higher level of care, and we say so directly so you reach the right level of care faster.

It depends on the medication class. Antidepressants (SSRIs and SNRIs) typically take four to six weeks to show their full effect, though some improvement in sleep or appetite can appear sooner. Stimulant ADHD medications work within hours of the first dose. Mood stabilizers can take one to several weeks to reach a therapeutic effect. We explain the expected timeline for your specific medication at the visit where it is prescribed.

Individual responses to psychiatric medication vary and no medication is guaranteed to work for a given person. If a medication is not helping after an adequate trial, or side effects outweigh the benefit, we adjust the dose or switch medications at your follow-up. You can also contact our Wesley Chapel office between visits if side effects are significant.

Yes. Adult ADHD evaluation for patients who suspect they have had symptoms since childhood but were never formally diagnosed is one of our most common Wesley Chapel visits. The evaluation includes a structured symptom history, functional impact assessment, and rule-out of other conditions such as anxiety and depression before any medication is discussed. Because we are an in-person office, your provider can do that evaluation face to face when it is the better clinical choice.

Not for every medication. Certain medications, particularly mood stabilizers like lithium or valproate and some antipsychotics, require baseline and periodic bloodwork covering kidney, liver, or thyroid function and, for lithium, blood level monitoring. Because primary care is in the same Wesley Chapel building, lab orders and follow-up review can often happen without sending you to a separate facility.

Our Cashford Circle office serves Wesley Chapel (33543, 33544, 33545), Lutz, New Tampa, Land O Lakes, Zephyrhills, and the surrounding Pasco County area for in-person visits. Patients further away, or anywhere else in Florida, can use telehealth with the same provider. If you are a Florida resident, your provider can see you by video regardless of city, because the license attaches to the state, not the ZIP code.

Yes, this is common. Bring your current medication list and, if possible, a summary of your diagnosis and treatment history from your previous provider to your initial evaluation. With your written consent, we can also request records directly. There is typically no gap in care if you schedule your first Ascend appointment before your current medication runs out.

Yes. Postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) are evaluated and treated with medication that accounts for breastfeeding status when relevant, and we coordinate with your OB or midwife when appropriate. If symptoms include thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, that is an emergency; call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, call or text 988, available 24 hours a day, every day. For non-emergency clinical questions between visits, contact our Wesley Chapel office at (813) 670-3005 and we will route the message to your provider or a covering clinician.

Yes. In-person visits happen in a private exam room at our Wesley Chapel office. Telehealth visits use Zoom for Healthcare under a signed Business Associate Agreement, which meets HIPAA's technical safeguards for transmitting protected health information, with encryption on the video call.