The Mental Health in Medicine Program is a specialized mental health program that provides assessment and time-limited treatment to patients.

Common themes encountered in therapy include:

• The psychological consequences of having a medical condition (e.g. coping with a new diagnosis or chronic disease.)
• Psychiatric illnesses that compromise medical care (e.g. feeling very anxious when having to attend medical appointments or start a treatment.)
• Psychiatric symptoms directly caused by medical disorders and their treatments (e.g. depression caused by a medication taken for another condition.)

We are a multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, nurses and therapists. Treatment includes:

• individual therapy
• group therapy
• treatment with medication
• couple therapy

In therapy, patients are given an opportunity to explore and find solutions for psychological concerns that may complicate their medical care. Therapy may focus on one or more of the following themes:

• ambivalence regarding treatment
• issues related to body image
• interpersonal issues raised by having a medical condition(s)
• coping with illness
• disordered eating

Researchers and students in the health-care professions are an integral part of our team.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program
An eight-week intensive and structured mind/body group training program is offered to patients. The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program provides instruction in mindfulness meditation practice to help heighten awareness of how people react to both emotional and physical pain. Find out more about this program and how to register here.

General Psychiatry

The General Psychiatry Program provides integrative psychopharmacology and psychotherapeutic care to patients of our Family Practice Health Centre and Urgent Care Centre.

Urgent follow-up is provided for patients who are in need of rapid psychiatric attention, but not needing admission.

Referral

Mental Health in Medicine program: Referral is from a healthcare professional and must include the family doctor information, including the family doctor telephone, fax and billing numbers.

General Psychiatry program: Referral is required from one of the hospital's health-care professionals to enter the General Psychiatry program and must include the family doctor information, including the family doctor telephone, fax and billing numbers.

Physicians and clinicians: Click here to download a copy of the Women's Mental Health Program referral form. Once completed, please fax to 416-323-6356.