A Q&A with Dr. Paul Smiley

Made for Mental Health

One of the most unique parts of primary care at True Health is our collaborative care teams: every patient has access to five clinicians who can work together to care for all parts of their health, body and mind. This includes a Psychologist who can offer tips to help optimize mental health, and provide therapy as part of every person’s care.

We set up our practice this way because we believe that all parts of our health are interconnected, and so does or care team. So we sat down with our lead Psychologist, Dr. Paul Smiley, to learn more about what makes mental health care at True Heath unique, and how it can help to improve your wellbeing.

True Health (TH): Let’s start with the basics. What does a psychologist do?

Dr. Smiley:  Most commonly, a psychologist works with patients to assess their mental health strengths and areas for growth. They then collaborate with patients to identify goals, and to help develop paths forward to work toward reaching them.

TH: One of the main tools we use at True Health is therapy. Is that right? 

Dr. Smiley: Yes. While some people are able to find ways of self-management or improving mental health on their own, working with a licensed professional can often guide to quicker and more effective results through evidenced based methods. Our Deerfield office has two psychologists offering therapy, Dr. Zach Anderson and Dr. Phil Sarpong, both in-person and via telehealth, and therapy functions well in both settings. 

TH: How does someone know if they should see a therapist? 

Dr. Smiley: Sometimes people seek therapy in response to a specific cause such as grief or loss, challenges in relationships, work stress, or struggles with substances. Other times, people want to address more chronic or longstanding patterns. Longstanding depression or anxiety can feel like a heavy weight if you’ve grown accustomed to carrying them around, and it’s worth addressing to function easier and feel more how you used to.

TH: What does good mental health look like?

Dr. Smiley: Signs of good mental health include positive self-esteem, feeling confident in yourself and decisions, and accepting criticism and learning from mistakes. It also includes making and maintaining close relationships, managing stress and anger with healthy strategies like exercise and mindfulness, and avoiding unhealthy coping like substance abuse.

Mental health also means managing our daily responsibilities with ease, maintaining healthy routines of sleep, hygiene, eating, and working out. It does not mean life is perfect or you are always happy, but that you have good resilience on bad days or times when you are struggling.

TH: What’s something people misunderstand about mental health? 

Dr. Smiley: Often people may not recognize that mental health challenges can manifest in physical symptoms. For example, anxiety can present with twitches or tremors, chest pains, sweating, and changes in sleep. Depression can present with lower energy, changes in weight, and reduced performance.

People often attribute these symptoms to physical health and may overlook seeking treatment for their mental health. While there may be physical influences, and physical treatments may treat a portion or symptoms, they will not address the true problem. Better understanding how one’s thoughts, behaviors, relationships or personal history might be impacting symptoms can help treat the problem at the root cause.

TH: What’s unique about our approach to psychology at True Health? 

Dr. Smiley: A person’s mental health is often influenced by many factors, including their physical health. Ideally, a psychologist in any setting would work with a patient’s treatment team, but the logistics of coordinating schedules often limit meaningful collaboration.

With psychology integrated into True Health, it is co-located with a patient’s interdisciplinary team, offering a significant benefit in the way of familiarity and open communication. This allows for easy collaboration within a patient’s care team, and better integration with physicians, nutrition, personal training and physical therapy. 

TH: What’s something bad for our mental health that people should look out for?

Dr. Smiley: Chronic stimulation, especially from digital devices. Often highly effective people will justify that they are multitasking, but can exhaust your brain even if you’re not physically tired. It disrupts focus, lowers attention span, and makes real-world interactions feel dull or unsatisfying.  Even low-level persistent stress can prevent true rest and downtime.

Want to Learn More?
If you want to dive deeper on mental health care at True Health, contact our patient care coordinator at (847)597-1980 or set up a consultation if you aren’t a member yet. We’d be happy to support you on your journey.