Skip to main contentBack to Top

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.

Contact Us

Psychiatry & Health Behavior

Health Sciences Campus

Stoney Building

Outpatient:
706-721-6597
Admin:
706-721-6719

706-721-1793

EG- 3024

Current Research

Current Research

Learn more about the current research.

Current Research
Patients

PATIENTS

Learn more about Behavioral Health and Psychiatry patient services and resources.

PATIENTS
Justice scale

FORENSIC INSTITUTE

MCG's Forensic Institute provides consultative services to private attorneys, the courts, administrative law bodies & governmental agencies.

FORENSIC INSTITUTE

Psychiatry & Health Behavior News

Two men smile and pose for camera.

The antipsychotic clozapine linked to significantly less insomnia in people with schizophrenia

Insomnia affects up to half of people with schizophrenia and is thought to worsen the impact of their disease, including their risk of suicide. A new meta-analysis of the antipsychotics these patients take indicates those who take clozapine have significantly fewer problems with insomnia, investigators report.

outside of a building

Spearman-McCarthy honored by professional associations

The internist/psychiatrist and associate dean for learner diversity, equity and inclusion at the Medical College of Georgia has been honored by three separate professional associations for her contributions to medicine.

children sitting on bench reading

Watch: Augusta University psychiatrist shares insight on back to school

“Adults looking after children really need to pay attention to their child, seeing where they've got strengths and trying to channel their activities and interest into those places where a child sees themselves as successful,” said Dr. Dale Peeples.

two men and one woman, all in white coats, stand shoulder to shoulder

Age 40 is when busy Americans get the least sleep

A graph of how long Americans sleep forms a U-shaped pattern across our lives.

MORE PSYCHIATRY & HEALTH BEHAVIOR NEWS

 

Related News Reports

Augusta clinic uses derivative of Ketamine as treatment for depression

Feb. 1, 2023WFXG Fox54

Doctors at Augusta University’s Behavioral Health and Psychiatry Clinic have Julie Clayborn on a different type of treatment, in hopes of turning her life around.

Continue Reading