Leva Psychiatry

08/27/2025

About 3 years ago, we started De-Prescribing because SO MANY people needed their medication lists reviewed.

From the primary care doc we met with last week-
"I see so many clients coming from psychiatry that are on SO many meds that are causing side effects, just aren't working, or were written and increased years ago and never re-evaluated. Its affecting my patients care".

What is De-Prescribing?

Deprescribing is the planned and supervised process of reducing or stopping medications. At Leva Psychiatry, we determine if medications need to stay or go.

Sometimes meds cause extreme side effects.
Sometimes meds are not beneficial anymore.
Sometimes meds were prescribed years ago and never re-evaluated to see if they were necessary.
Sometimes there are newer medications

WE OPTIMIZE quality of care by ensuring each medication is absolutely necessary.

08/26/2025

At Leva Psychiatry, we take a careful, balanced approach to the new GLP-1 medications (such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound). While these medicines are very popular right now, we’ve seen important concerns:

Risks with rapid or extreme weight loss: loss of lean muscle mass and even potential cognitive changes if not supported from a nutritional perspective properly. We have seen the lack of monitoring of weight loss and lean muscle mass loss.

Food is medicine: we emphasize that nourishing the brain and body matters more than focusing on weight or numbers on the scale.

Whole-health perspective: we are especially mindful of metabolic health, since some psychiatric medications (like antipsychotics) can affect weight, blood sugar, and cholesterol.

💡 Our goal is to support metabolic wellness, brain health, and sustainable habits rather than chasing quick fixes.

We are offering metabolic management for those in need of metabolic support with the right type of nutrition support.

08/12/2025

Early intervention and testing for ADHD is crucial to knowing what to do with a child's strengths! With our testing at Leva, every family receives:

A clear, jargon-free diagnostic report
An individualized summary of your child’s strengths and challenges
Actionable, evidence-based recommendations for school, home, and clinical care
Access to curated resources, books, websites, and tools to support ongoing progress. 🌳Make the decision to explore strengths and learn your unique brain 🧠 and its inner workings.

08/06/2025

Dont worry dear, ive got you now.

07/18/2025

✨ Evening appointments now available Monday through Thursday with Sonja McFadden, PMHNP 🌙
For the ones juggling full days, caregiving, or careers — healing doesn’t have to wait.
Make space for you after hours.

📍Leva Psychiatry
🗓️ Limited evening spots — message us to schedule.

07/14/2025

✨ Now Enrolling: The Final Inner Child Healing Group Series of 2025 ✨

For 2025, we have been running groups and building community!

This 5-week small group experience is for anyone ready to gently reconnect with the parts of themselves that went through heavy stuff—and are still waiting to be held with love.

This isn’t just about healing the past.
It’s about learning how to feel again, SAFELY.
(Without shutting down. Without stuffing it. Without spiraling into panic.)

Emotions don't live in the mind, they live in the BODY.
And until we access and express them there, we stay stuck.

That’s why we use:
🌀 Hypno-Breathwork
🎨 Expressive Arts
🧩 Parts Work
💥 Emotional Release
🧘‍♀️ Somatic Integration + Nervous System Repair

To move you from: "I know why I do this..."
to
"I finally feel different."

This August marks our fifth and final group of the year.
If your body is craving co-regulation, connection, and a real shift—you’re not alone.
We’re building something brave, safe, and powerful. And we’d love to have you.

👉 Message us with any questions!

07/08/2025

You know what actually made a difference for me?
I finally talked about it.
I opened up to my husband about what was going on in my head.
Just saying, “Hey, I think something’s off—I can’t stop thinking,” felt huge.
The wild thing?
I didn’t even realize it was anxiety or worry.
I just thought I was someone who overthinks everything.
But when your brain is constantly in “what if” mode or replaying old moments—you’re not really here.
You’re not present. You’re not at ease.
Things didn’t start to shift for me until I learned how to reconnect with my body.
Now, feeling grounded feels like peace.
It feels like being calm in my own skin.
So if your mind’s been going nonstop, and you’re exhausted from it…
Maybe this is your sign to pause and check in with yourself.
And if you ever want to talk—I’m here. 💛

07/06/2025

You know what? People talk about "the work" and about "self love". But they wait to face conflict ( or avoid it completely). They also stay in toxic relationships and work places.or don't say no when needed. Or ignore the body and its messages. Self love is action- of loving ourselves so our bodies sense we care about all its messages. We all have the ability to love ourselves even more.

06/09/2025

💛 Grief touches everything — your thoughts, your body, your sense of who you are. Whether it’s the loss of someone you love, the end of a relationship, or a life shift that’s left you reeling… grief can feel like it takes the ground out from under you.

As a Hypnotherapist and HypnoBreathwork® Practitioner, I’ve seen how powerful it can be to support grief not just through talk, but through the subconscious mind and the body. Our bodies and nervous system carries our pain- and sometimes expressing through words alone isn't enough. Sometimes, healing needs to happen from the inside out.

Hypnotherapy for grief can help you:

Gently process emotions like sadness, guilt, or even relief

Calm your nervous system when everything feels too much

Reconnect with your memories and your sense of self

Envision a way forward without "letting go" of what mattered

And most importantly, feel less alone in the process

If you're carrying grief and you're ready for something different — something softer, deeper, and more supportive — I’d love to walk with you.

With care,
Sonja

06/04/2025

If you’re looking for AMAZING 🫢 help… hear us out!

Not just symptom management. Not just meds and checkboxes.

But the kind of support that helps you:

– Feel differently in your body
– Show up differently in your life
– Set boundaries without guilt
– Break the patterns you thought were permanent
– Get to the root of your suffering
– And experience life with way more joy

At Leva Psychiatry, we combine expert psychiatric care, testing, somatic therapy, and trauma-informed support—offered by a team that actually sees you.

We’re not here to pathologize you.
We’re here to help you remember your strength.

✨ Real healing. Real joy. Real change.
📍 www.levapsych.com

05/22/2025

04/11/2025

Liz Burkholder is a mover and shaker who propels willing clinicians, coaches, and providers into the world of somatic healing. She is a visionary and founded the GoWithin Institute which is a safe place to heal and learn modalities that have changed so many lives! She believes YOU are the Medicine. And any true doctor and leads you back to yourself. Grateful we can host her and bring her joy to Hampton Roads as well as her energy, presence, and spirit of collaboration.