Wellstar Behavioral Health

Outpatient Behavioral Health

Through psychiatric medication management and psychotherapy, we care for patients with moderate to severe symptoms of psychiatric illness — which means that while your symptoms may be having a significant impact on your overall well-being, they aren’t so severe you need an intensive outpatient program or inpatient psychiatric care.  If you have questions or believe you or a loved one could benefit from our care, please contact us at (770) 644-1570.

 

Inpatient Psychiatric Care

Our inpatient behavioral health units provide 24-hour care for adults ages 18 and older who need immediate stabilization because of a primary psychiatric illness. An individual may be admitted to one of our inpatient behavioral health units if they are experiencing uncontrolled symptoms of mental illness or a substance use disorder, if there is risk for suicide or if they are unable to attend to their basic needs.  While we know this can be a stressful process, you can take comfort in knowing our services were designed to provide you or your loved one with safe, around-the-clock care, and to facilitate recovery from the difficulties interfering with quality of life.

Our inpatient behavioral health services include:

• 24-hour behavioral health monitoring and supervision
• Behavioral health assessment and evaluation
• Medication adjustment and management 
• Individual and group therapy
• Patient and family education
• Recreational therapy
• Discharge and aftercare planning

Once admitted to a Wellstar inpatient behavioral health unit, our team will complete a thorough evaluation. This assessment will help us determine the cause of your or your loved one’s distress, including any underlying medical conditions. After evaluation, our team of experts will work with you and your family to develop an effective and personalized treatment plan.

Admissions and Referrals

We accept admissions to our inpatient behavioral health units 24-hours a day. If you have questions, you can reach our Behavioral Health Assessment & Resource Center (BH-ARC) anytime at (470) 732-3789. Referrals can be self-referrals or may be made by a healthcare professional, family member or friend. 

If you or a loved are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department. 

Hospital-Based Behavioral Health Services

We recognize that when individuals have emotional or behavioral needs, getting access to the right resources can be challenging. That’s why, with a commitment to treat the whole person, Wellstar provides access to on-site and virtual behavioral health specialists in our hospital emergency departments and on the medical floors to meet these important patient needs.

 

Health Psychology Services

As clinical health psychologists, we understand how physical health and illness can be impacted by psychological, behavioral, social and cultural factors. That’s why our health psychologists may provide pre-surgical evaluations to help ensure a successful medical outcome, provide support to help you adjust to a new medical condition, or work with you or your loved one to change lifestyle behaviors that are contributing to the onset or worsening of a physical health condition. 
Whatever the case, rather than focusing only on mental health, we use a comprehensive approach to help you or your loved one reach their goals and live life to the fullest.

Our specialized health psychology programs include:

• Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine: Our program is designed to help patients manage the stress associated with cardiovascular disease and to initiate lifestyle changes associated with improved health outcomes. We also have sub-specialty services for patients who are thinking about or recovering from left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.
• Metabolic Behavioral Medicine: Our services help patients improve their management of hemoglobin a1c, lose weight, sustain weight loss and manage lifestyle behaviors that contribute to a variety of metabolic conditions. We also offer sub-specialty services for patients who are thinking about or recovering from bariatric surgery.
• Pain Psychology: Our pain psychology services were developed to help patients manage pain more effectively through cognitive, behavioral and advanced coping methods. We also offer sub-specialty services for patients considering spinal cord stimulator implantation. 
• Psychosocial Oncology: Our program was designed to help patients adjust to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and learn to manage the stressors associated with cancer, such as emotional distress, fatigue, side effects, pain or sleep difficulties, personal relationships and more.
• Somatic Symptom Disorders: Our services aim to help patients who are experiencing unexplained physical symptoms that may be caused or impacted by stress. 

For more information about our health psychology services, please contact us at (770) 514-6760.

Integrated Behavioral Health Services

When you or a loved one need emotional or behavioral support, we know it’s common to turn to a primary care provider for help. That’s why we’ve developed an integrated behavioral health program, which includes on-site behavioral health providers at many of our primary and specialty-care clinics. 
These clinicians work with your primary care physician to help with emotional or behavioral conditions that could interfere with your quality of life, including:

• Anxiety (mild-to-moderate)
• Depression (mild-to-moderate)
• General stress
• Posttraumatic stress (mild-to-moderate)
• Sleep problems
• Tobacco use

It's our way of making behavioral healthcare more accessible and meet you, or your loved one, where you are.

Neuropsychology

With a specialized understanding of brain-behavior relationships, our skilled neuropsychologists can effectively evaluate, diagnose and treat neurocognitive disorders or known brain conditions, such as stroke or brain injury, that affect you cognitively, emotionally and functionally.

Our services include:

• Outpatient neuropsychology: Diagnostic and evaluation services for patients with a variety of neurological symptoms stemming from possible dementia, traumatic brain injury and neurological disease.
• Inpatient neuropsychology: Our inpatient neuropsychologists provide brief neuropsychological evaluations and behavioral interventions to help patients and their families adjust to the changes that come with traumatic brain injury.

Together with you and your family, we’ll work to improve your knowledge of your condition — and help you plan for and adjust to your treatment.

Our team is also invested in training future neuropsychologists through our Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN) residency program. Our APPCN program promotes an exciting atmosphere filled with learning, teaching and collaboration.

If you or a loved one are in need of neuropsychology services or have questions about our services, please contact us at (470) 956-3941.

 

System-Wide Behavioral Health Services

Wellstar is committed to meeting a number of overarching goals that extend beyond the standard behavioral health services offered by most health systems, including our Zero Suicide Initiative. By adopting the national Zero Suicide framework, we make suicide prevention a priority by focusing on suicide prevention education, training, screening processes and other best practices to care for you and your loved ones.

We consider it an honor to model effective mental healthcare for patients, and to effect change and growth in our field.

If you or a loved one are having thoughts of suicide and are in need of immediate support, please contact the Georgia Crisis Access Line at (800) 715-4225.

If you’re interested in partnering to support our suicide prevention efforts, please contact the Wellstar Foundation.