Category: Telehealth

online counseling session

Why Choosing a Local Psychiatrist in Maine Matters: I Live Here, I Work Here, I Care

With so many out-of-state providers offering virtual psychiatric care in Maine, it’s more important than ever to choose someone who truly knows the community. Dr. Madeline Goodman, D.O., has lived in Maine since childhood and is deeply invested in the people and values of this state.

I’m Not Just Licensed in Maine — I’m Rooted Here

With the rise of large telehealth companies, it’s become increasingly easy to find a psychiatrist online. But that convenience often comes at a cost — especially when the provider has no real ties to Maine. Many of these companies are run by out-of-state professionals who get licensed here just to expand their business footprint. They don’t live here. They don’t know our communities. And they’re not truly invested.

I’m Dr. Madeline Goodman, a board-certified psychiatrist, and while I wasn’t born in Maine, I’ve called it home since the fifth grade. I know this state not as a visitor or a business opportunity, but as someone who grew up here, raised a family here, and made a lifelong commitment to staying here.

A Psychiatrist Who Understands Maine Life

I understand what it means to grow up in Maine — the rhythm of the seasons, the challenges of rural healthcare access, and the strength and independence of the people who live here. I also understand what resources exist locally and where the gaps are — and that matters when it comes to getting effective, meaningful care.

When you work with me, you’re not getting a stranger from across the country. You’re getting a neighbor. A fellow Mainer. A psychiatrist who genuinely cares about your wellbeing and who brings both professional expertise and lived experience to the table.

I Support the Community Because I’m Part of It

I live in Maine year-round. I support local businesses, pay taxes here, vote in local elections, and advocate for better mental health services in our state. My commitment to this community isn’t just professional — it’s personal.

That’s what sets my practice apart from national telehealth platforms that treat care as a transaction. I treat each patient with the respect, continuity, and local understanding they deserve.

Looking for a Local Psychiatrist You Can Trust?

I offer personalized telepsychiatry services to adults throughout Maine — from Portland to Bangor, Lewiston to remote coastal towns. You’ll receive compassionate, one-on-one care rooted in evidence-based treatment and tailored to your unique needs.

📞 Ready to Get Started?
Reach out today to schedule a consultation or learn more about how I can help.

Why Telehealth Etiquette Matters: Creating a Safe and Stable Space for Therapy

Telehealth is Convenient — But It Still Deserves Respect

One of the great advantages of telehealth is flexibility: you can receive care from virtually anywhere. But just because you can take a session from your car, your workplace, or the corner of a grocery store parking lot doesn’t mean that you should.

As a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, I show up at the same time every week from a private, quiet, and professional space—because that’s what good care requires. And for therapy to really work, patients need to do the same.

What Good Telehealth Etiquette Looks Like

Be in a stationary location. If you’re in your car, that’s fine—but please don’t be driving. Pull over and park so you can give your full attention to the session.
Find a private space. Therapy often involves talking about personal and emotional topics. It’s hard to feel safe and open if you’re worried about being overheard or interrupted.
Be on time. Just like an in-person appointment, punctuality matters. It honors the therapeutic process and allows us to use the full time we’ve set aside.
Try to use the same place each week. Predictability creates a sense of safety, and therapy works best when we’re grounded—not scrambling to find a quiet corner at the last minute.

Why It Matters

When patients show up in a distracted, chaotic, or rushed way, therapy simply can’t unfold the way it’s meant to. Insight, reflection, and emotional growth require presence. When sessions feel disorganized or squeezed between other obligations, the space we need to do meaningful work gets lost.

Therapy is a commitment—not just to the appointment time, but to yourself.

Setting the Frame Is Part of My Job

Part of my responsibility as a provider is to help set the frame for therapy. That includes creating consistency, offering structure, and communicating expectations clearly.

If at any point something doesn’t feel clear, or if you’re unsure why a certain aspect of etiquette matters, I want you to know that it’s okay to ask. And if I haven’t said it directly—I’ll own that. I don’t expect patients to automatically know how therapy works. That’s part of what I’m here for.

Final Thought

Telehealth has opened up access to care in wonderful ways. But it’s still real therapy. The more seriously you take the setting, the more you get out of it.

As your provider, I’m here—every week, in a consistent and grounded space. I invite you to meet me there, in every sense of the word.

Telepsychiatry in Maine — Serving Portland, Bangor, and Southern Maine

Psychiatric Care Across Maine — From Anywhere You Are

Whether you live in Portland, Bangor, Lewiston, or a small town in between, accessing personalized psychiatric care can be challenging. Long waitlists, long drives, and a shortage of providers often get in the way of people getting the support they need.

As a board-certified psychiatrist practicing exclusively via telehealth, I provide accessible, compassionate psychiatric care across the entire state of Maine. All sessions are conducted securely and privately via video, from the comfort of your home.

I work with adults facing a range of concerns, including:

Depression and anxiety
Trauma and stress-related disorders
Midlife transitions
Sleep difficulties
Medication management and psychotherapy combined

Why choose telepsychiatry in Maine?

Same high level of care you’d receive in person

No commute or wait times

Flexible scheduling

Available statewide — from Aroostook County to York

About Me:

Serving Patients in Bangor and Throughout Maine

Although my practice is fully virtual, I work with many patients in the Bangor area — as well as those in surrounding towns like Brewer, Orono, Old Town, and Hermon. Whether you’re a student at UMaine, a professional balancing a busy schedule, or someone living outside the city with limited access to care, telepsychiatry makes it easy to receive high-quality, private psychiatric care without the need to travel.

I also provide psychiatric care to residents across Maine — including Portland, Augusta, Lewiston, and rural communities that often lack local psychiatric resources.

Whether you’re in a rural area with limited access or just prefer the convenience of remote care, I’m here to help.

If you’re looking for a psychiatrist in Maine who offers both medication and therapy and truly listens, I invite you to learn more or contact me through my website:
👉 www.madelinegoodman.com

Madeline Goodman, D.O., Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Psychiatrist for Adults – Licensed in Maine
100% Telepsychiatry | Accepting New Patients
www.madelinegoodman.com

How AI Is Changing Psychiatry – And What It Can’t Replace

By Dr. Madeline Goodman, Psychiatrist & Psychotherapist

In the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from a buzzword to a powerful presence in healthcare—and psychiatry is no exception. From chatbots offering mental health support to algorithms screening for depression, AI tools are being hailed as the future. But as someone who practices both psychiatry and psychotherapy, I see both the potential and the limits of AI in mental health care.

What AI Can Do in Psychiatry

AI can be remarkably helpful in specific ways:

Screening and early detection: Algorithms can flag symptoms of anxiety, depression, or even psychosis by analyzing speech patterns, facial expressions, or written language.
Support tools: Chatbots and apps like Woebot offer basic cognitive behavioral techniques, which some people find helpful between therapy sessions.
Administrative support: AI can assist clinicians by summarizing notes, organizing data, and predicting medication responses—reducing our time spent on paperwork.
Access expansion: In underserved areas, AI-powered platforms can provide some mental health support where human clinicians are scarce.

These are all meaningful contributions, especially in a system where access and time are limited. But psychiatry is more than pattern recognition.

What AI Can’t Replace

While AI might be efficient, it lacks emotional depth. Psychiatry is not just about diagnosing and prescribing—it’s about understanding the human story:

The therapeutic relationship: Healing often happens in the relationship itself—through being seen, heard, and understood by another person. This is something no algorithm can replicate.
Complex emotions and nuance: Human distress is rarely neat. A person may present with anxiety that is also grief, that is also trauma, that is also existential. Understanding that layering takes attunement, not coding.
Unconscious processes: As someone trained in psychodynamic therapy and dream work, I believe that unconscious patterns shape behavior in ways AI can’t access. Therapy often means sitting with uncertainty and ambiguity—territory machines aren’t built for.

How I Use (and Don’t Use) Technology in My Practice

I value useful tools. I offer telehealth, I keep up with emerging technologies, and I understand the appeal of convenience. But I’ve also seen what’s lost when care becomes too transactional.

My practice offers something different: personalized, attentive, and deeply human care. Whether you’re navigating midlife transitions, relationship changes, or long-standing patterns, I create a space for exploration that goes beyond symptoms.

The Future: Human + AI, Not Human vs. AI

I’m not anti-AI—I think it has a role. But I believe the future of psychiatry is not about replacing clinicians. It’s about supporting them, so we can focus on what machines can’t do: build relationships, tolerate uncertainty, and sit with pain compassionately.

If you’re looking for mental health care that combines depth, professionalism, and a human touch, you’re in the right place.

Why Personalized Psychiatry Still Matters in a Telehealth World

🧠 Why Personalized Psychiatry Still Matters in a Telehealth World

Telehealth has transformed the way people access mental health care. With a few clicks, it’s now possible to schedule an appointment, consult with a provider, and even receive prescriptions — all without leaving home.

But not all telehealth is the same. And while large platforms have helped expand access, many people are finding that what they truly need is personalized, consistent, and thoughtful care — the kind that can sometimes be hard to find in fast-paced, high-volume systems.

🏥 When Convenience Comes at a Cost

Many online platforms offer quick access to care, including features like brief check-ins, medication consults, or even therapy through text. While this convenience works well for some, others find that something gets lost in translation — especially when sessions feel rushed or when they rarely see the same provider twice.

I’ve worked with many people who started with these services and later realized they were craving more depth, more consistency, and a stronger therapeutic relationship.

“It felt like no one really knew me,” is something I often hear.

For a deeper look at best practices in telepsychiatry, you can visit the American Psychiatric Association’s Telepsychiatry Toolkit.

🤝 The Power of Personalized Psychiatry

In my practice, whether we meet in person or through telehealth, you are not just a time slot or a diagnosis. You’re a full human being — and your care should reflect that.

Because I work independently, I’m not part of a larger corporate structure. That means your care is guided by your needs — not quotas or time limits.

What to expect:

Consistent care with the same provider
Integrated therapy and medication insight
Sessions that allow time to reflect and explore
A relationship built on trust, not turnover

🌿 Telehealth With a Human Touch

Yes, I offer telehealth. But it’s grounded in relationship, respect, and care. Whether you’re navigating anxiety, life transitions, depression, or trauma — you deserve a space where you feel truly seen and heard, not just evaluated.

💬 If You’ve Tried Other Options and Still Feel Unseen…

You’re not alone — and there are alternatives.

If you’re looking for a more personal and consistent experience with a psychiatrist who takes the time to understand your whole story, I’d be honored to talk with you.

Telehealth and new CMS Guidelines

For my Medicare patients currently being seen through Telehealth. we can breath another sigh of relief because right now The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Service (CMS) has made it “permanent.” The “audio only” visits have been eliminated but for now two way audio and video are being maintained.

“For behavioral or mental telehealth, all patients can continue to get telehealth wherever they’re

located, with no originating site requirements or geographic location restrictions. The patient’s home

is a permissible originating site for services provided for diagnosing, evaluating, or treating:

● Mental health disorders

● Substance abuse disorder”

This is great news for my medicare patients who are able to continue to have visits in the safety and comfort of their own home. Many of my older patients are immunocompromised and or have difficulty ambulating so this allows me to continue their care.

I am a Telehealth provider in Maine and Florida and I will continue to be able to provide uninterrupted care to my most vulnerable patients.

Medicare Advantage Plans Unaffected?

So far it seems Medicare Advantage plans will remain in effect as well. So far I have only been in contact with one plan, because I am an in Network provider they will continue to provide the benefit for my patient. I will conitnue to provide updates as they become available.

Florida Bound; Expanding Telehealth Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

Starting soon, hopefully in about 30 days, I will be expanding my Telehealth psychotherapy practice to the state of Florida. This will allow me to reach more new patients as well as those I see now who travel to the sunshine state. It is required by law that I am licensed in some states where I provide Telehealth. I decided that Florida would be the best place to expand my current practice.

Why Florida, you ask?

Florida seemed like the right starting place for me to expand my practice. I have had several snowbirds in past years in my practice. Plus Florida is home to many older people and I find myself enjoying working with people transitioning into the autumn’s of their lives. I also love working with my patients setting out on their early life voyages. I am looking forward to the autumn of my practice life but know I still have many beach days left in me!

Face to Face, the Sequel

I haven’t written in a while and I know it is long overdue. I am feeling back to my “new normal.” I play my flute, exercise, garden when the weather permits and talk virtually or by phone with friends. During this time it is important to maintain some sense of structure and connectedness. My practice is entirely Telehealth. I have even met with new patients that way which is quite different than I would have ever done it in the past. Most of my patients are finding it OK. Only a handful have not.

Psychotherapy is not Crisis Management

This morning I read an article in the local paper. It is not my first source of daily news but it gets delivered online so I took a look. There, on the front page was an article about therapy. I read it and I found don’t agree with much of what was being said. Sure there was an occasional valid point being made, but my practice is much different from the ones’ being described in the article. I have always felt I practice quite differently from my peers. I believe in depth psychotherapy and my work is not crisis or symptom management driven. My practice certainly has seen an uptick but not due to the pandemic. Talking about the pandemic was surely on the agenda in the beginning of all this but most of my psychotherapy patients continue to work on the very issues that brought them in the first place.

Feelings, whoa Whoa Feelings

One question that is now coming up for some and also for me is when do we go back to face to face meetings? The simple answer is I don’t know. But if I look more deeply at that question, it can mean my patient is missing seeing me. It can mean she wants to feel more connected in my office space. I will explore her feelings around this and see if we can get to the heart of what she is feeling. The work I do is always about feelings.

The Ugly Duckling Strikes Again

I have always felt I was a bit different from my Psychiatrist peers. I used to wonder if that was a bad thing not quite fitting in. When Psychiatrists wanted to become more biological, I was still more in favor of psychotherapy over prescribing. In the fairy tale, The Ugly Ducking, the beautiful swan just needs to grow into herself and find her truth. My truth has always stayed the same. My new truth is Telehealth works. I will stay with this as long as I need to to keep myself and my patients safe. I will deal with my patient’s feelings as they arise the same as I would doing face to face. I do believe we will be back working physically face to face again. I just don’t know when.