Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

The Behavioral Medicine and Primary Care Psychology (BMPC) Clinic is an assessment and treatment clinic focusing on primary care and specialty health psychology. This clinic serves the behavioral health needs of patients being treated in primary care as well as patients from specialty medical clinics without direct access to health psychology services. Patients referred to the BMPC clinic have a variety of presenting problems including adjusting to physical health conditions and/or treatments, mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety), or engaging in healthier habits (e.g., smoking cessation, improved sleep, increasing physical activity).

The Plank Road Clinic is a free-standing outpatient, ambulatory Froedtert Health primary care clinic with three specialties (med/peds, family medicine, and internal medicine). A busy primary care clinic serving both children and adults with all presenting concerns. Fellows will serve as a behavioral health consultant for adult patients and perform empirically validated health psychology assessments and brief interventions. They will be available for warm hand-offs of primary care patients, ongoing brief behavioral health care, and consultation on behavioral and mental health concerns of primary care providers.

Cancer psychology is the practice of health psychology as it applies to those being treated with cancer and addresses issues of adjustment to illness, coping with chronic illness, adherence and behavioral management, and end-of-life care. Cancer psychologists work with patients and their family members to help cope with cancer as well as the impacts it has on functioning, emotional distress, mental health, and family relationships. This rotation includes providing an empirically-based, health and behavioral assessment and intervention for patients undergoing surgical treatment for pancreatic cancer. Additionally, fellows will have the opportunity to treat patients over the course of their cancer treatment process.

The Headache Medicine Program is housed within the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and provides multidisciplinary services to individuals suffering from primary headache disorders, including chronic migraines, tension-type and cluster headaches. The interdisciplinary headache team includes physicians, fellows, residents, pain psychologists, nurse practitioners and physical therapists. Patients in the headache program receive a comprehensive evaluation of their headaches, leading to a personalized plan of care established in collaboration with the patient and multiple headache specialists. When appropriate, patients are referred to pain psychology for a variety of presenting problems including difficulty adjusting to chronic headache pain and headache-related treatments, co-morbid mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety), and/or assessment and treatment of maladaptive behavior patterns that may serve to perpetuate and exacerbate their headaches.

Palliative Care is a specialty that focuses on improving quality of life for patients suffering with serious medical illness (e.g., cancer, advanced heart, lung, liver, kidney or vascular disease, serious neurological conditions, injuries from life-threatening accidents, and other serious or life-limiting illness). The goal is to minimize discomforting symptoms through a biopsychosocial lens focusing on physical, emotional, and spiritual distress. The interdisciplinary team includes physicians, advanced practitioners, spiritual services, registered nurses, and a psychologist. Palliative psychologists work with patients and their family members in an effort to help them with adjustment and coping of serious illness, interpersonal relationships, and mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety, trauma, cognitive concerns, delirium, etc.), pain management, and end-of-life care. Common treatment modalities include but are not limited to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy, and Dignity therapy. On the palliative rotation, the fellow will work primarily in the inpatient setting and as part of a multidisciplinary team. Fellows will treat patients over the course of their cancer treatment process. Fellows will spend 4 half-days in the hospital on the inpatient palliative care team.