Resident well-being is essential for optimal resident learning, competent and compassionate clinical care, and the smooth functioning of the residency program. Our Residency Wellness Program is a vital component to our psychiatry training program that promotes a sense of collegiality and enhances our residents’ emotional health. Supported by philanthropy, our Residency Wellness Program allows us to offer:

• wellness retreats
• wellness didactics
• resident bonding within and between classes
• opportunities for reflection
• resident-driven wellness programming
• welcome events for PGY-1s

Please consider donating to the Psychiatry Resident Education and Training Fund!

Our biggest strength is our people, and this year we hope to recruit for the following positions:

• Director of Family and Caregiver Support (including peer support services and community reintegration)
• Clinical Director for the Garvey Institute Center for Neuromodulation (brain stimulation)
• Research Director for Neuromodulation/Interventional Psychiatry
• Medical Directors for various programs based at the new Center for Behavioral Health and Learning
• Director for a new Translational Addiction Research Program

New space and facilities allow us to bring in excellent people and programs. We are pursuing:

• State-of-the-art space for teaching, research and clinical care at the new Center for Behavioral Health and Learning, including a Crisis Observation Unit and a Neuromodulation Clinic
• The planned remodel and upgrade of the existing geropsychiatry unit at UWMC-Northwest hopes to include space for caring for new moms needing psychiatric care
• Partnerships to provide transitional clinical support for patients who are discharged from one of our inpatient psychiatric facilities to a supported housing program
• Affordable housing for our residents and fellows to help us recruit the best and brightest future mental health professionals to Washington
• Space for innovation and training as part of the new UW Medicine Behavioral Health Institute at Harborview Medical Center

We continue to invest in novel ways to treat mental health and substance use. We are exploring:

• The creation of a Family and Caregiver Academy that will teach families and caregivers how to become effective members of their loved one’s care team by offering training, skills building and other support
• State-of-the art neuromodulation (brain stimulation) approaches to help people with treatment-resistant depression and other serious brain health problems
• Investments in a crisis care program that would provide walk-in access, timely interventions, peer bridgers and transition support and serve as a valuable alternative to traditional emergency rooms
• The use of psychedelic compounds combined with psychotherapies for treating addictions including alcohol, opioid and tobacco use disorders
• The development of vaccines, antibody-based strategies and small molecules to treat opioid use disorders and overdoses and the application of those strategies for other unmet medical challenges
• Strategies to develop and test innovative partnerships that extend the impact of mental health professionals in Washington State

New facilities and programs present new opportunities to develop our workforce. We hope to build:

• A Psychiatry Resident Wellness Program to support the next generation of mental health professionals
• A Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program to train psychiatrists and psychologists for service with justice-involved patients with mental illness
• A robust Clinician Scientist Training Program that identifies, engages and supports students, trainees and early career faculty who are interested in research
• A partnership with UW to transform the way we prepare undergraduate students to become part of the human services workforce.