Frequently asked questions.

No, you do not need a referral from a general practitioner or other healthcare professional - you can contact us directly. After the first session, the therapist may request relevant documentation, such as previous discharge summaries or reports, if you have these available.

The duration depends on the specific appointment type you have scheduled:

• Initial Consultation (In-Person or Video): 60 minutes
• Single Consultation (In-Person or Video): 50 minutes
• Medication Review (In-Person or Video): up to 30 minutes

Please proceed to our dedicated booking and contact page to schedule an appointment.Book an Appointment↗

Yes, you can freely cancel or change your appointment via SMS or email up to two business days (48 hours) prior to your scheduled time. Appointments that are not cancelled within this timeframe will be invoiced in full, regardless of the underlying reason.

Yes. Automated reminders are issued via SMS and/or email both at the time your appointment is formally scheduled and again two days prior to your session.

A complete and up-to-date overview of all our rates and billing conditions can be found on our dedicated pricing page. Click here to see our prices↗

Payment is processed on the day of your treatment via a secure digital payment link sent to you by SMS through MediPay or Payex. If the balance is not settled within 48 hours, an invoice will automatically be generated. We kindly request that all payment deadlines be strictly observed to avoid potential debt collection fees.

The most meaningful gift you can offer a loved one is a supportive step on the journey toward optimal mental health. You can read more about our gift cards or submit a formal request directly through our pricing page. Click here to read more about or purchase gift cards↗

We are located on the 4th floor at Meltzersgate 4 in Frogner, right behind the Royal Palace. We also offer online services via a secure link.

Address: Meltzersgate 4, 0257 Oslo

Email: hello@lumacare.example.com / hello@lumacare.example.com

Phone: +47 91531871

Digipost: LumaCare Mental Helse AS

A Rule of Thumb:

If you are expending a significant amount of energy dreading your daily routine, or if you feel as though you are "acting" or pretending to be fine in front of others, these are clear indicators from your body that you are carrying a burden that is too heavy to bear alone. There is no shame in seeking support.

You should consider seeking professional help when psychological distress begins to impair your daily functioning, sleep architecture, or personal relationships, and you realize that you cannot reverse this negative trajectory on your own. It is a common myth that one must be "severely ill" or hit rock bottom before consulting a psychiatrist or psychologist. The reality is that the earlier you address your challenges, the swifter and more straightforward it generally is to reclaim your quality of life.

Specific indicators that suggest it is appropriate to book an initial consultation include:

1. 1

   Functional Impairment: Daily life becomes difficult to manage. This occurs when psychological symptoms make it challenging to complete ordinary daily tasks, such as struggling to attend work or school, isolating yourself from friends and family, or losing the ability to engage in hobbies and activities that usually bring you joy.

1. 2

   Prolonged Alterations in Mood, Energy, or Sleep: Everyone experiences difficult days or challenging weeks. However, if you have experienced the following symptoms for more than two to three weeks, you should consider professional intervention:

   • Persistent feelings of sadness, emptiness, or hopelessness.
   • Debilitating restlessness, constant worry, or panic attacks.
   • Profoundly disrupted sleep patterns, including insomnia, waking mid-night with racing thoughts, or sleeping abnormally long hours.
   • Severe mood fluctuations that generate interpersonal conflicts or distress for yourself and those around you.

1. 3

   Acute Life Crises or Psychological Overload: Occasionally, life events overwhelm our natural coping mechanisms. This can include relationship breakdowns, the loss of close family members, severe illness, or prolonged extreme stress in work or academic environments. Engaging in psychotherapy during such a phase can effectively prevent an acute crisis from developing into a long-term depressive or anxiety disorder.

1. 4

   Maladaptive Coping Strategies: This applies if you notice you are relying on unhealthy methods to dull psychological pain, such as developing a strained relationship with food through binge eating or starvation, or increasing your use of alcohol or substances to quiet racing thoughts. Please note that active substance abuse requires specialized treatment within public addiction services (TSB) before entering private outpatient care.

1. 5

   Concerns Regarding Children or Adolescents: As a dual specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, I highly emphasize the importance of early parental intervention. If you experience persistent anxiety regarding your child's emotional development, social isolation, abnormally high stress levels, or sudden behavioral changes, it is far better to seek an early clinical clarification rather than adopting a prolonged wait-and-see approach.

Are you ready to speak with a professional? Click here to learn about your first consultation↗ or Go directly to our appointment contact form↗.

My private practice operates strictly on a scheduled, daytime outpatient basis and lacks the comprehensive multidisciplinary support network and round-the-clock emergency infrastructure found within a hospital setting. To prevent inappropriate referrals and ensure realistic expectations, it is crucial to clarify which conditions fall outside the clinical scope of my private services.

Regrettably, I am unable to accept patients presenting with the following challenges:

• Active Moderate to Severe Substance Use Disorders (Addiction): These conditions require specialized multidisciplinary addiction treatment (TSB). However, patients with a historical background of substance abuse who are currently stable and sober, and who require treatment for underlying psychiatric conditions such as ADHD or affective disorders, are warmly welcome in my practice.

• Acute Psychosis and Unmanaged Schizophrenic States: These clinical presentations require immediate emergency intervention, continuous monitoring by mobile crisis teams (AAT/FACT), or acute admission to an inpatient psychiatric ward to guarantee the safety of the patient and their surroundings. A private outpatient clinic relies on scheduled sessions and lacks the emergency infrastructure needed to manage a severe break from reality. I can, however, provide continuing care for patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders who are already established on medical treatment and are in a stable, maintenance phase.

• Acute Crises, Severe Suicidal Ideation, or Intense Self-Harm Impulses: These presentations require 24-hour clinical observation and a highly dense safety network. Such individuals must be managed within public acute psychiatric services. In the event of immediate suicidal danger, emergency medical services (Legevakt: 116 117) or your local acute psychiatric unit must be contacted immediately.

• Severe Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa: Conditions involving critical somatic complications and medical instability, such as an exceptionally low BMI, cardiac arrhythmias, or severe electrolyte imbalances, require integrated multidisciplinary care involving clinical nutritionists, internists, and frequently inpatient hospitalization. As a solo private practitioner, I do not possess the infrastructure to bear this medical and somatic responsibility alone.

• Profound Intellectual Disabilities (F70–F79) with Severe Behavioral Disturbances: These patients generally require heavily coordinated services from the municipality, social services (NAV), specialized housing, and institutional habilitation services. Private outpatient practice is best suited for individuals who possess the cognitive capacity necessary to actively participate in and benefit from outpatient psychotherapy and standard medication monitoring.

• Coercive Care and Forensic Psychiatry: All forms of involuntary treatment (compulsory mental health care) and the clinical follow-up of legally sentenced patients require formal statutory frameworks and institutional settings that belong exclusively to the public healthcare system.

Emergency Services:

This clinic does not provide emergency psychiatric assistance, offering only scheduled diagnostic evaluations and treatment during standard daytime hours.

If you require immediate, acute assistance, please contact:

• Acute Mobile Crisis Team (AAT): Contact the mobile team under the DPS or outpatient clinic at your local hospital during daytime hours.
• Emergency Medical Services (Legevakt): Call the national emergency medical number at 📞 116 117 (available 24/7).
• National Emergency Hotline: In the event of immediate danger to life, call the ambulance service at 📞 113.

It is completely natural to feel somewhat anxious or apprehensive before your first meeting with a psychiatrist. My primary objective is to ensure you feel supported, heard, and secure from the very first moment.

The first session is an initial intake and evaluation consultation. Below is an overview of what we will cover together:

1. 1

   Introduction and Situational Assessment: We begin with an informal clinical dialogue where you can describe, in your own words, what has prompted you to seek help at this time. We will explore your current everyday symptoms, how long these challenges have persisted, whether specific events triggered them, and how they disrupt your daily life, including employment, education, sleep, and relationships.

1. 2

   Clinical History (Anamnese): To understand you as a whole person rather than just a set of symptoms, we dedicate time to exploring your background history. As a specialist in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry, I consider your entire lifespan. We will briefly touch upon your historical physical and mental health, any family history of psychiatric conditions, and your early childhood development.

1. 3

   Clarification of Expectations and Boundaries: We review the logistical and practical aspects of your care. During this time, we clarify the functional boundaries of my private practice, such as the fact that I do not treat active substance dependencies or issue official sick-leave certificates (sykmeldinger). You will also have ample opportunity to ask any questions regarding the therapeutic process moving forward.

1. 4

   Establishing the Path Forward: Toward the conclusion of the session, we summarize our initial findings. Frequently, completing a comprehensive assessment of your unique situation and clinical history requires one to three sessions. We will then formulate a preliminary plan, deciding whether to proceed with an extensive diagnostic evaluation (such as for ADHD or a mood disorder), initiate targeted psychotherapy directly, or consider supportive pharmacological management. You will be actively involved in every decision, as the most effective treatment plan is one we mutually agree upon and within which you feel entirely secure.

A correct understanding of your difficulties forms the very foundation for assessing what kind of help and measures you need. In order to create a good plan for safe, up-to-date, and evidence-based treatment, we always start with a thorough assessment.

I follow current national guidelines from the Norwegian Directorate of Health, as well as international professional guidelines. Diagnosis is made in accordance with the official diagnostic manuals (in Norway, ICD-10 is used).

Collaboration with other professionals

Sometimes it is appropriate or necessary to collaborate with other actors in both primary and specialist health services to ensure you receive comprehensive help. We always do this in consultation with you.

Which treatment method is best suited for you is something we figure out together during the first conversations. The choice depends on your challenges, your personality, your life situation, and what scientific research shows has the best effect on your difficulties.

As a specialist, I have training in and experience with several different treatment approaches. This allows me to adapt the method to your unique needs, rather than forcing you into one specific framework. I do not rely on a single method for everyone but often combine different treatment approaches to create change and promote the best possible improvement.

Psychoeducation (Knowledge sharing)

I use psychoeducation as an integrated part of treatment for all patients. This is a systematic and educational approach where we teach you and possibly your family about the relevant mental health challenge or diagnosis. Understanding your own condition and your own reaction patterns is often half the battle. The goal is not just to provide dry information but to equip you with knowledge that makes it easier to cope with everyday life.

Medication

As a psychiatrist (physician), I can assess whether medication can be a useful support for you during the treatment process. If medication is relevant, it is almost always used in combination with talk therapy and close medical follow-up.

How long you should attend therapy depends entirely on what kind of challenges you want help with and what your goal is. A treatment plan is always tailored to the individual.

You have full control over your own treatment course and can stop whenever you wish. My recommendation as a psychiatrist: Even though you can stop at any time, I always recommend that we have a joint closing session when you feel ready to finish. Ending a therapy process in a planned and proper way is in itself an important part of the treatment. This ensures you have the tools you need for the road ahead on your own.

The goal of therapy is to create a safe space where we work together to help you feel better about yourself and in your daily life. We take as our starting point where you are today. The goals below serve as a compass, and we adapt the treatment to suit your specific life situation and your wishes for the future.

Based on your needs, we will focus on achieving positive change and improvement in these areas:

1. 1

   Personal growth and coping

   • Increase self-awareness: Get to know yourself better, your values, and your patterns.
   • Mobilise your own resources: Rediscover and strengthen your own inherent strengths and tools.
   • Promote joy and increase well-being in everyday life: Work purposefully towards more life satisfaction and a more meaningful daily life.

1. 2

   Managing thoughts and habits

   • Establish better functioning coping mechanisms: Replace strategies that no longer serve you with healthier tools.
   • Regulate difficult emotions and intrusive thoughts: Learn to handle emotional turmoil and anxiety in a safe way.
   • Change unhealthy habits and rigid behaviours: Break out of cycles that hold you back.

1. 3

   Relationships and inner peace

   • Handle internal and interpersonal conflicts: Find strategies for standing in and resolving conflicts, both with yourself and others.
   • Engage in healthy interpersonal relationships: Build safe, good, and balanced bonds with the people around you.

Psychiatrists and psychologists have overlapping tasks and work in similar ways. When needed, they collaborate and draw on each other's expertise.

A psychiatrist is a trained physician who has then specialised in mental disorders (psychiatry). The psychiatrist looks at the interplay between physical (biological) illness and mental symptoms. They have deep insight into how brain chemistry, hormones, organ systems, and physical illness affect the psyche (and vice versa), and take into account the psychosocial and cultural aspects for a holistic approach. A psychiatrist can assess, diagnose, and treat all forms of mental disorders, especially complex conditions. They offer both psychotherapeutic conversations and can prescribe medication when needed. Since they are doctors, psychiatrists can also issue sick leave certificates, although this task is typically handled by the general practitioner.

A psychologist has a university education in psychology (professional degree). They focus on human normal development and how thoughts, emotions, and behavioural patterns are shaped. The psychologist focuses on psychological processes, relationships, life history, and environmental factors. They work to understand why we react as we do and how we can change unhelpful patterns. They offer assessment and talk therapy for a wide range of mental health challenges. A psychologist cannot prescribe medication or issue sick leave certificates.

A neuropsychologist is a psychologist who has completed further education (specialisation) in the relationship between the brain's physical structure and our behaviour, thinking, and emotions. The neuropsychologist examines how injuries, diseases, or congenital conditions in the brain affect cognitive functions such as memory, attention, language, and logical thinking. They engage less in traditional talk therapy. Instead, they perform comprehensive and specialised tests (a neuropsychological examination) to map exactly which parts of the brain's function are impaired or intact.

As a psychiatrist, I am a medical doctor specialising in mental health. This means I have specialist expertise in assessing whether, when, and how medication — often called psychopharmaca — can be a safe and useful part of your recovery process. Medication is rarely a complete solution on its own, but it can function as an important support in daily life. Medication works best when combined with conversations, reflection, and tools for coping. The goal is often for medication to give you the necessary surplus to make changes in your life.

Here are the most common situations where medication may be relevant:

1. 1

   For moderate to severe mental disorders: When mental difficulties become so intense that they paralyse your daily functioning, medication can help dampen the most severe symptoms. This applies especially to:

   • Severe depression: To restore chemical balance in the brain, give you back your sleep, and lift your energy enough that you can benefit from talk therapy.
   • Bipolar disorder: Mood-stabilising medication is often essential to prevent and dampen the large swings between deep depressions and manic episodes.
   • Severe anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): When anxiety is so paralysing that you cannot expose yourself to what you fear (exposure therapy), medication can take the edge off the panic.
   • Psychoses and schizophrenia: Antipsychotic medication is crucial for dampening hallucinations, thought chaos, and delusions.
   • Major and persistent sleep difficulties.

1. 2

   For neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD: With ADHD, the brain's ability to regulate attention and impulses is biologically impaired. Central stimulants or other targeted ADHD medications can help the brain gather thoughts, increase concentration, and dampen inner and outer restlessness.

1. 3

   When other measures have not been sufficient: If you have tried talk therapy, lifestyle changes, or other measures over time without noticing sufficient improvement, it may be relevant to add medication support to break the negative pattern.

Starting psychopharmaca is a decision we make together. You will never be pressured to take medication.

Download the consent form as PDF here↗

A psychiatrist has the right to issue sick leave certificates. However, I do not issue sick leave certificates in my private practice. This must be handled by your general practitioner.

Yes, absolutely. Everything we discuss in my practice is strictly confidential. As a psychiatrist and physician, I have a statutory professional duty of confidentiality under the Health Personnel Act. This means that nothing you share with me regarding personal information, medical history, or life situation will be disclosed to others without your explicit consent. This also applies to family members, partners, employers, or schools.

Our relationship is built on trust. Should a situation unexpectedly arise where an exception to the duty of confidentiality becomes relevant, my goal will always be to discuss this openly with you first, as long as it is practically possible and responsible. Safety is the backbone of the treatment.

For you to feel completely safe in the treatment, it is crucial that you know exactly how your personal data and medical history are handled. Privacy in my practice is governed by strict legislation that ensures your confidentiality.

The three most important pillars of your privacy:

1. 1

   Statutory duty of confidentiality As a physician and psychiatrist, I am subject to one of the strictest confidentiality obligations in Norwegian society under the Health Personnel Act. This means nothing you share in the therapy room — whether it concerns symptoms, past, relationships, or substance use — can be shared with others without your written or verbal consent. The duty of confidentiality also applies to your closest family members, partners, employers, or schools.

1. 2

   Secure electronic medical records All healthcare professionals have a duty to document treatment in a patient record. In my practice, I use a modern record system that meets the strictest security requirements of the Norwegian Data Protection Authority and the Norm for Information Security in the Health and Care Services.

   • No outsiders have access to these systems.
   • You have full right to request access to your own records at any time.

1. 3

   Communication and digital platforms Regular email and SMS are not secure enough channels for sensitive health information. To protect your privacy, I ask that you use my contact form when booking appointments, or raise sensitive questions directly in consultation with me. Documentation can be sent via Digipost or via email if sent encrypted.

Like all healthcare professionals, I am legally required to keep patient records. This is done in a closed and secure record system that meets the strictest data security requirements. The records exist to ensure that you receive safe and responsible treatment, and you naturally have the right to access your own records at any time you wish.

Healthcare personnel are subject to a number of statutory duties, primarily regulated through the Health Personnel Act, to ensure patient safety and quality of services. The Health Personnel Act applies to all personnel who provide healthcare in public or private health and care services, regardless of whether they have formal authorisation.

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In my practice, I place great importance on patient care, safety, and mutual trust. However, should you experience that the treatment, your rights, or the way you are met does not meet expectations, as a patient in the Norwegian health system you have a statutory right to complain.

Here is an overview of how you can proceed if you wish to file a complaint or raise something you are dissatisfied with:

1. 1

   Raise it directly with me (Recommended first): If you experience misunderstandings, disagree with a professional assessment, or feel poorly cared for, I encourage you to raise this with me during a session. Often an open conversation can clear up misunderstandings, and together we can adjust the treatment plan so you feel safe.

1. 2

   The Patient and User Ombudsman: If you find it difficult to raise the matter directly with me, or if you want independent advice and guidance about your rights, you can contact the Patient and User Ombudsman.

   • This is a free and confidential service.
   • The ombudsman can help you formulate a potential written complaint and guide you through the system.

1. 3

   Formal complaint to the County Governor: If you believe there has been a serious failure in treatment, or that health legislation has been breached, you can send a formal complaint to the County Governor in the county where the clinic is located.

   • The County Governor is the supervisory authority for healthcare personnel and will assess whether the treatment provided has been professionally responsible.
   • Such a complaint can today be sent simply and securely via the digital portal on the County Governor's website.

1. 4

   Norwegian System of Patient Injury Compensation (NPE): If you believe you have suffered physical or psychological harm as a result of treatment, and that this has led to financial loss or permanent injury, you can apply for compensation from NPE.

   • All private practitioners and psychiatrists in Norway are legally required to be registered with and pay fees to NPE to ensure patients' financial protection in case of malpractice.

Would you like to read more about your general rights as a patient in Norway? You can find comprehensive information at Helsenorge.no.

The clinic does not offer emergency help, only planned assessment and treatment during daytime hours.