Psychiatry and Health Behavior

The Medical College of Georgia Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior is a team of professionals committed to discovering and providing innovative solutions to mental health problems by educating health professionals, providing compassionate service, advancing science and inspiring a love of learning.

Mental health is increasingly pervasive in this country and the world. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five US adults live with a mental illness and, in 2017, an estimated 970 million people worldwide had a mental health illness or substance abuse disorder.

The Medical College of Georgia Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior is committed to an integrated approach to understanding and treating mental health disorders through research, education and patient care. Our faculty experts contribute to the knowledge and advancing future care through research in areas including depression, suicide, insomnia, schizophrenia, addiction, children’s mental health, forensic psychology and more. We have a strong history of extramural funding, especially in the areas of schizophrenia, depression, brain stimulation, and suicide and have received about $2 million in support of our extramural research programs since the fiscal year 2013, with the strongest support coming from the NIMH.

We have clinical programs in child and adolescents, eating disorders, geropsychiatry, schizophrenia and mood disorders, dialectical behavior therapy, therapeutic neurostimulation, health behavior, and a comprehensive addiction management program. The department is home to accredited ACGME-approved fellowship training programs in general psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry and addiction medicine; as well as, other training programs in forensic psychology, serious mental illness, women’s health psychology, LGBTQ psychology, child and adolescent psychology, and psychotic disorders.