About Mind & Matter Behavioral Health

Mind & Matter Behavioral Health is an independent psychiatric practice serving the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids corridor. We are two founders who believe careful, unhurried care is worth building a practice around. This page is the long version of what we believe and how we work.

Healing is not the absence of scars, but the ability to carry them differently.

Philosophy

Why patients come to us

Many patients arrive at psychiatry after trying multiple medications that did not work, worked only partially, or caused side effects that outweighed their benefits. In our experience, this is rarely because someone is truly treatment-resistant. More often, it reflects that the right questions were never fully explored.

We specialize in thoughtful, medication-based psychiatric care for adults who want a more deliberate and individualized approach. We take time to understand not only current symptoms, but how prior treatments have affected mood, sleep, energy, cognition, and overall functioning, and what life circumstances were present at the time. This allows treatment decisions to be guided by patterns and context, rather than trial-and-error alone.

How we decide

Our additional training in family and acute care informs a whole-person approach to psychiatry. Sleep physiology, stress response, medical comorbidities, and medication tolerability all play a role. We aim to use the lowest effective dose, establish clear goals, and define exit criteria, avoiding unnecessary polypharmacy whenever possible.

We believe patients deserve to understand why a medication is being recommended, what we are monitoring, and how adjustments will be made if something is not working. Treatment is a shared, transparent process, not a one-sided decision.

At Mind & Matter, the goal is not to rush to the next prescription, but to arrive at the right one, carefully, deliberately, and with respect for the individual in front of us.

What kintsugi means here

Our name reflects how we think about psychiatric care. Like kintsugi, the Japanese art of repair, we view prior treatments, setbacks, and lived experience not as failures, but as essential information. Each piece matters. Careful integration of what has already been tried often leads to stronger, more durable outcomes.

  • Pain is not erased, it is acknowledged, and breaks are integrated, not denied.
  • Healing does not mean "going back to before", it means becoming stronger and more whole because of what was endured.
  • Treatment is not about perfection or numbing symptoms, but about repair, restoration, and growth.

You are not broken beyond repair. Your scars can become sources of strength, insight, and beauty.

What to expect

  1. Reach out

    Request an appointment online, or send a note through our contact page. Either works.

  2. We connect

    We reach back out to talk timing, fit, and any questions you have.

  3. Your first visit

    An unhurried conversation about your history, what has and hasn't worked, and what you want from care.

Schedule An Appointment