Dr. Kornfeld offers a three day comprehensive evaluation and assessments for new patients covering issues of chronic pain and chemical dependency. This assessment includes evaluation of patient records from existing treating professionals, a full physical exam including comprehensive lab work, a psychiatric assessment, a psycho-social assessment performed by a licensed professional psychologist, a nutritional assessment, a complete review of all patient medications and supplements, and a broad range of non-traditional evaluations including sessions with our acupuncturist, our massage therapist, as well as our staff of spiritual guides and healers.
For our California patients living nearby, this process can be accomplished on an outpatient basis. For our out-of-town patients, we house these patients in the Mill Valley Inn, adjacent to our offices.
During his 20 year history of treating addiction and pain, Dr. Kornfeld has come to realize a number of truths about his patients. The first is that for addiction patients, even after years of addiction treatment and interventions, they are often confused as to the exact nature of their chemical dependency. In the case of pain patients, they are often uncertain or hold conflicting opinions as to where their pain is actually centered. The second truth is that even in the case of very educated and knowledgeable patients, especially those who have retained the services of multiple professionals and practitioners, there is no unified diagnosis or course of treatment on which all the professionals and practitioners have agreed and which the patient is following. As a matter of fact, often these practitioners and professionals are not always aware of the existence of the others, let alone the conflicting courses of treatment being recommended. As a result, the patient is often following conflicting sets of advice and direction and over any considerable period of time, not only does not make any headway, but often suffers considerable setbacks.
In response to these circumstances-almost always ways confronted in the case of new patients- Dr.Kornfeld has instituted the Comprehensive Assessment and Evaluation process. This process brings the widest variety of competencies and outlooks to our patients' treatment planning, clarity to the patient's problems, and a unified approach to the proposed solutions.
Across a broad range of both western and alternative philosophies, we bring the patient a level of skill and competency unmatched in addiction or chronic pain treatment. The Comprehensive Assessment is the foundation on which the individualized, patient-specific, Recovery Without Walls Program is constructed.
For almost all our patients, the Assessment is the first time they have ever reviewed their addiction or chronic pain syndrome in a comprehensive multi-dimensional way, and certainly the first time they have been provided with a unified cross-disciplinary approach to a solution.