Rivendell Health is a TRICARE West network practice on Kelly Johnson Blvd, a short drive from Peterson Space Force Base and the Air Force Academy. Our psychiatric providers see active duty service members, veterans, retirees, spouses and dependents for evaluations, medication management, and Spravato and ketamine therapy when standard medications haven't worked. We're open until 8 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, so an appointment doesn't have to cost you a duty day.
Call (719) 726-6573 or send the form, and our front office will check what your TRICARE plan needs before your first visit.
Our providers treat depression, PTSD, anxiety, ADHD, sleep problems and the adjustment that comes with a PCS move, a deployment or a separation. Dr. Joshua James, our psychiatrist, focuses on depression, anxiety, ADHD and PTSD, and Brittany Omer, PMHNP, treats trauma-related disorders alongside depression and anxiety.
Colorado is in the TRICARE West region, run by TriWest Healthcare Alliance, and we're in its network. What you need before your first visit depends on who you are in the system:
Spravato is the exception to the referral rules above. It's billed under a medical code rather than as a behavioral health visit, so every TRICARE beneficiary needs a referral to begin it, plus a prior authorization, which our team submits. Our guide to TRICARE coverage for Spravato and ketamine walks through who qualifies.
We accept VA Community Care referrals. If you get your care through the VA, the VA has to approve community care and send the referral before your first visit here. Ask your VA care team, or the PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom VA Clinic in Colorado Springs, for a community care referral to Rivendell Health for psychiatry. Once the referral reaches us, our front office calls you to schedule.
If you're a veteran with TRICARE through military retirement, you can use it here as described above. Veterans with neither can be seen as self-pay patients, and our front office can quote the visit cost.
PTSD and depression frequently occur together. For some people, two or more antidepressants have already been tried without much change. That's the point where we talk about Spravato and/or Ketamine.
Spravato (esketamine) is FDA-approved for treatment-resistant depression and for major depression with suicidal thoughts or behavior. TRICARE covers it for those uses with prior authorization. It isn't approved for PTSD on its own, so when PTSD is part of the picture, what qualifies you is the depression diagnosis. Rivendell Health is certified in the Spravato REMS program, which TRICARE requires.
Ketamine therapy is used off-label for treatment-resistant depression and for PTSD that hasn't improved with first-line treatment. TRICARE doesn't cover it, so it's self-pay for every TRICARE member. Our trained medical team gives the injection in our office, and you're monitored for two hours after each dose. Our ketamine therapy page covers candidacy and what a course looks like.
Both treatments mean you can't drive until the next day. For active duty members, that's worth raising with your chain of command when you plan the schedule, the same as for any procedure that takes you off the road.
Bring your referral if you're active duty, your TRICARE card, and a list of every psychiatric medication you've taken: the name, the dose and roughly when. That last part matters most if you might be a candidate for Spravato, because the prior authorization depends on it.
The first visit, usually called an intake, is a psychiatric evaluation with one of our providers and takes about an hour. They'll ask about your symptoms, your history, sleep, alcohol use, and anything from service that still affects you day to day. Depending on how complex your history is, you may leave with a treatment plan, or your provider may want a follow-up visit before deciding. Follow-ups after that are typically 30 minutes.
This is the question service members ask most, and the answer is different for active duty members.
If you're a spouse, dependent, retiree or veteran: your care here is covered by the same privacy rules as any medical care. Nothing goes to anyone's command.
If you're active duty: Department of Defense policy (DoDI 6490.08, updated in 2023) starts from the position that providers do not notify your command when you seek mental health care. Notification is allowed only in specific circumstances, including:
Outside those circumstances, seeing a psychiatrist is not reported to your command.
Here is how that works at Rivendell Health. A psychiatry referral is handled differently from a referral to a medical specialist: nothing is sent back to your referring clinic or your command automatically, unless the referral itself specifies it. If a command notification is ever required, the records are requested through our main email, support@rivendellhealth.com, or through the patient portal.
If you have questions about what applies to you, ask us at your first visit. We'll tell you plainly before you share anything.
Rivendell Health is an outpatient practice and isn't set up for crisis care. If you or someone you know is in crisis:
Other support in Colorado Springs:
If you're active duty, yes: you need a referral from your PCM. Family members and retirees on TRICARE Prime don't need one for outpatient psychiatric care from a network provider, and TRICARE Select members don't need one either. Spravato is different: it's billed under a medical code rather than as a behavioral health visit, so a referral is needed before you can begin it, whichever plan you're on.
For spouses, dependents, retirees and veterans, no. For active duty members, DoD policy says providers don't notify command when you seek mental health care, except in specific circumstances such as a serious risk of harm to yourself, others or the mission. Nothing goes back to your referring clinic or your command automatically unless the referral specifies it.
TRICARE covers Spravato with prior authorization for treatment-resistant depression and for major depression with suicidal thoughts or behavior. It doesn't cover ketamine therapy, which is self-pay.
Yes, with a VA Community Care referral. Ask your VA care team or the Lindstrom VA Clinic in Colorado Springs for a community care referral to Rivendell Health for psychiatry, and our front office will call you to schedule once it reaches us.
Yes. We're open until 8 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays and until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Phone: (719) 726-6573
Fax: (719) 698-7879
Email: support@RivendellHealth.com
Location: 1465 Kelly Johnson Blvd. Ste 310
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
Hours: