Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Counseling Appointments

Get the help you need by visiting with a Psychiatrist, Mental Health Nurse Practitioner or Therapist in our comfortable, private office in Sioux Falls, or schedule an in-home telepsychiatry or psychotherapy counseling appointment. The choice is yours, making it easier to for busy professionals and people located in rural areas to prioritize caring for their mental health needs. We have mental health providers with immediate openings for new patients residing in South Dakota or Minnesota. We offer comprehensive psychiatric care for all ages from children, adolescents, adults, and geriatric, patients. Our mental health professionals specialize in chemical dependency treatment, depression, gene testing, ADHD, anxiety, panic, mood disorders, bipolar, OCD, agoraphobia, insomnia, sleep disorders, and PTSD, and our therapist specializes in men’s and women’s issues, trauma/PTSD, depression, anxiety, ADHD, chronic mental illness, mood disorders, and reintegration after incarceration.
With online scheduling and payment, the process to prepare for an initial visit is simple to get started. Choose the appointment time and day that works best for you, prepay for your appointment, and your provider will connect with you either in our Sioux Falls office or in the privacy of your own home. (NOTE: New patients are required to be seen in office for their first visit, and an occasional in person visit is required by some insurance payors.) If you choose the convenience of telehealth, our staff guides you through the process quickly to get your mental health needs taken care of as soon as possible, utilizing secure video conferencing services through InSync, where you will also have access to a Patient Portal for better communication. If you are already receiving psychiatric treatment elsewhere, an initial visit with MWI Health can be used to provide a second opinion, ensuring that every patient is on their way to an improved life path. We also accept a number of the major insurance payors, so contact us today if you are looking for a new provider that can guide you on your path to mental wellness and health.
Questions? Call us at 605-573-2000, and we will guide you through the process and prioritize finding a time for you to talk with someone to get the care you need.
With every initial visit appointment, the patient spends 50-60 minutes with the provider, who conducts a thorough diagnostic assessment via interview, records mental health symptoms, and reviews medical history, psycho-social and developmental history, family history, substance use history, and review lab work when indicated. The MWI Health Psychiatrist, Mental Health NP, or Licensed Therapist will then make an accurate and educated diagnoses of the mental health condition and customize a personal treatment plan involving a combination of therapies including psychotherapy, behavioral modification, and medication.
Medication Management appointments are brief, lasting only 30 minutes or less. During these appointments, the patient’s response to medications will be reviewed and assessed, and side effects noted, with changes to medications being made as necessary and refills completed. The patient will receive some supportive therapy during these appointments, with referrals made for the best overall mental health treatment when more treatment options are needed.
Every day with depression is a struggle, and it’s a serious medical illness that impacts peoples’ lives every day. While medication can work for treating symptoms for many people, others find that their chronic symptoms continue with traditional antidepressant medication treatment. Think differently about depression by considering NeuroStar TMS Therapy. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) uses short pulses of a magnetic field to stimulate nerve cells in the area of the brain thought to control mood. The pulsed magnetic field may have a positive effect on the brain’s neurotransmitter levels, giving hope to adult patients who have failed to receive satisfactory improvement from prior antidepressant medication.
Call today for a free consultation and to schedule a thorough initial psychiatric evaluation to discuss whether TMS Therapy could work for you. Covered by most insurances with prior authorization, we have found that TMS Therapy to have life-changing effects in treating depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues.
Spravato® Treatment

As another avenue for alternative treatment for depression, Spravato® is an FDA approved treatment that is covered by most major insurances. It’s safe and fast-acting and takes place in approved centers like our clinic at MWI Health in Sioux Falls. The medication is a variant of ketamine and is administered nasally.
Spravato® has a very different action in the brain from commonly used antidepressants. For those suffering from depression that hasn’t responded to a number of antidepressant trials, this new treatment may be a valuable option.
Expert Independent Psychiatric Evaluations

Dr. Pavlis, MWI Health’s Chief Medical Director and Psychiatrist, and our trained provider team of interviewers are experienced in providing independent psychiatric evaluations for Veteran Services, always striving to offer an unbiased, knowledgeable, and professional evaluation. We schedule quickly and provide reports in a timely manner.
We regularly provide Veteran Competency and Pension Evaluations including issues surrounding PTSD and TBI to our nation’s heroes and workforce, working with all the major organizations contracted by the VA, including QTC, Optum Serve (formerly LHI), and VES. You may contact any of the above organizations and request us by name, or call us at 605-573-2000 for more information.
Experienced Forensic & Competency Evaluations

Clay J. Pavlis, M.D., also offers unbiased, knowledgeable, and professional evaluations for civil matters and court-ordered forensic psychiatric and competency evaluations. Hand-chosen as the Psychiatrist for South Dakota’s 22-member Task Force on Community Justice and Mental Illness Early Intervention, which convened in 2016 to improve the state’s criminal justice system relating to individuals with mental health issues, Dr. Pavlis is recognized by many legal professionals because of his acute understanding of the legal process. As an accomplished mental health psychiatrist with years of experience providing mental health care in correctional facilities, he provides complete medical record reviews, consultations, and expert witness testimony in civil and criminal cases, combining medical knowledge and experience to answer difficult legal questions accurately and fairly.
Contact us at office@mwihealth.org or call 605-573-2000 to get started with a free forensic quote.
Contracted Mental Health with Team Approach

We bring expert psychiatric care to the underserved through a network of providers and telehealth. Widely respected as the regional leaders in mental health services, our qualified professionals provide care in economically and geographically underserved populations. We specialize in contracting with correctional facilities, hospitals and clinics in the region. By providing in-house support and telehealth services, we care for individuals who might otherwise go untreated.
We are able to provide contracted psychiatric services to an expansive region because of our network of trusted mental health providers in South Dakota and Minnesota, and by using a team approach, patients will not be left without a provider to care for them. Facilities prefer to contract with MWI Health to lessen their training and hiring expenses, fill an immediate need for mental health care, and to eliminate administrative risks related to mental health team management. We strive to meet every facility’s needs, whether for one day a month, one day a week, or multiple providers each day, and customize each contract to each organization’s needs.
Our providers currently see patients in regional hospitals, non-profit clinics, nursing homes, and prisons throughout Minnesota and South Dakota. We may be able to extend support to other states upon request, so contact us today if your facility or organization has unmet mental health needs. Contact us at office@mwihealth.org or call 605-573-2000 to assist your organization with evaluating your needs and offering solutions for provider care.
Medical Marijuana Cards - Not Available Here
With South Dakota legalizing medical cannabis as of July 1, 2021, we have been getting calls about filling prescriptions for patients. There is no provision for mental health providers to do that in the state, so we are encouraging you to contact your primary care physician to ask if this treatment might be right for you.
Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use
Our supportive care team of specially-trained Suboxone treatment providers offer solutions for opioid addiction in our clinic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Our providers have given addicts new hope through established treatment plans amidst a national opioid crisis, offering in-person and telehealth care to individuals caught in the cycle of pain killer dependence. By utilizing a treatment plan involving buprenorphine (Suboxone), and thus alleviating the symptoms caused by opioid withdrawal, clients find success in being able to focus on other areas of their lives to break the hold of pain killer dependence. Our Buprenorphine Certified staff is currently accepting new patients.