Sage Meadows Mental Health
Where Healing Takes Root
Sage Meadows
Mental Health
Where Healing Takes Root
Beyond my Clinical Training:
While I have spent years caring for patients as a psychiatric provider, my understanding of mental health has also been shaped by my own experiences navigating life's challenges. I appreciate how vulnerable it can feel to ask for help and how profoundly the therapeutic relationship matters.
Reading about symptoms in a textbook is very different from experiencing them firsthand, and healing is rarely one-size-fits-all. Every person's story, goals, and path forward are unique, and I believe mental health care should reflect that. My life experiences have strengthened my empathy, reinforced the importance of listening without judgment, and given me a deeper appreciation for the courage it takes to begin the healing process.
I intentionally designed Sage Meadows to be a smaller, relationship-centered practice so that I can be fully present and grounded for each person I work with. By limiting my caseload and allowing adequate time for appointments, I can offer thoughtful, collaborative care where patients can feel genuinely heard.
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I understand how meaningful it is to feel safe, respected, and affirmed in healthcare settings. While I am committed to providing compassionate care to all patients, I am especially passionate about serving communities that have too often been overlooked or underserved within the traditional healthcare system.
Above all, I know first-hand that healing is possible. Whether someone is seeking support for the first time or has spent years searching for answers, my hope is that every patient who walks this path with me feels understood, respected, and never alone.
I started Sage Meadows to provide the deeply personal, thoughtful psychiatric care that every patient deserves. In larger systems, providers are often responsible for hundreds of patients. Schedules are packed, there is less room for proactive follow-up, and patients can move between providers or programs with limited continuity. People with complex histories may receive less individual attention than they truly need. While these systems do essential work with limited resources, seeing the challenges of a strained system firsthand inspired me to build something different.
Sage Meadows is a smaller, fully remote practice where I can offer longer appointments, responsive communication, and individualized care. My caseload will eventually be capped to enable me to provide excellent care to every patient in treatment.
A Practice Built on Purpose:
A Collaborative Approach:
I practice psychiatry collaboratively. I bring clinical training and experience to every visit, and you bring your lived experience, your questions, and your goals. I explain diagnoses clearly, walk through treatment options with honesty, and make sure you understand the reasoning behind every recommendation. The decision about whether to take medication always belongs to you.
I am proudly LGBTQ-affirming and welcome patients from all backgrounds. Every interaction is grounded in cultural humility, respect for your lived experience, and an understanding of how trauma, including childhood and systemic trauma, shapes mental health. You can expect a provider who honors your identity and meets you where you are.
Psychiatric physician Assistant | Seven Years of Experience | Founder
I became a psychiatric provider because I believe that mental health shapes nearly every aspect of our lives. When a person's mental health improves, the benefits often extend far beyond the individual—strengthening relationships, families, communities, and society as a whole.
Over the past seven years, I've had the privilege of caring for thousands of patients navigating complex and overlapping mental health conditions. Again and again, I've seen that healing happens most fully when people feel safe, respected, and genuinely heard. That belief is the foundation of Sage Meadows. I strive to build trusting, collaborative relationships where each person is seen not simply as a diagnosis, but as a whole person with a unique story, strengths, and goals.
I hold a Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) in Psychiatry from the NCCPA, a credential held by only about 0.5% of physician assistants nationwide. This optional credential requires dedicated psychiatric experience, specialty-specific continuing education, psychiatrist mentorship, and a separate standardized examination in psychiatry. It reflects my commitment to the field and the depth of my specialization.
Meet Erica Chustz, PA-C, CAQ-Psych (she/ her)
Clinical Background:
Clinical Background:
My medical career began in the psychiatric emergency department at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, the busiest ER in the country at the time. During my time there, I treated patients in acute crisis, including those experiencing suicidal ideation, psychosis, mania, and violent behavioral emergencies. Seeing the full spectrum of how mental illness can present has sharpened my ability to recognize and treat symptoms early, before they escalate.
From there, I spent five years in adult outpatient psychiatry at the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, Texas's largest mental health authority. Both settings served patients with serious mental illness, multiple co-occurring diagnoses, and diverse cultural backgrounds, which strengthened my clinical skills and broadened my understanding of how culture, identity, and lived experience shape mental health. I managed psychotropic medications across every major diagnostic category and learned what it means to advocate for patients within overburdened systems.
That experience gave me confidence in treating a wide range of psychiatric conditions and deepened my commitment to providing the quality of care every patient deserves.