Psychiatry

Clinically Integrated Psychiatric Care for Pediatric and Adult Patients 

Loyola Medicine’s highly skilled psychiatry team provides clinically integrated pediatric and adult psychiatric care with compassion and understanding. Loyola’s dedicated psychiatrists have experience treating a wide range of psychiatric conditions with outstanding results.

For each and every patient, our specialists apply their considerable experience and collaborative working style to provide comprehensive care and achieve the best possible outcomes.

The Difference Between Psychiatrists and Psychologists

Psychiatrists differ from psychologists in that they have medical degrees with a specialty in psychiatry. Our board-certified psychiatrists have studied drug management and may prescribe medication to help manage your condition as part of your therapy.

Why Choose Loyola for Psychiatry?

As part of an academic medical center, Loyola’s expert clinicians perform and teach the latest medical treatments in numerous locations across the Chicago area. In addition, our nurses have earned Magnet status, which means they have been recognized for delivering the highest level of care.

What Psychiatric Conditions are Treated at Loyola?

About 43.7 million adults in the United States were estimated to have a mental illness in 2012. Of those, 9.6 million were experiencing serious mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. There is no need to feel alone in this struggle.

Loyola’s skilled specialists are here to help you with every aspect of your condition. Our care team includes psychiatrists, psychiatry residents, neuropsychologists, clinical psychologists, health psychologists, psychology fellows, social workers and psychiatric nurses.

Psychiatrists and psychologists work together to care for adult patients with mental health issues, including:

• Anxiety — Patients with anxiety are often worried or anxious about a wide variety of things and cannot control their unease. 
   
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — Patients with ADHD are overactive, have trouble focusing and can’t control their behavior. They also may experience a combination of these three issues. 
   
• Autism — Pediatric patients with this condition lack adequate social and communication skills. 
   
• Bipolar disorder — This condition causes patients to experience periods of depression and extreme happiness, as well as times of severe irritability. They also have widely fluctuating energy levels and bouts of activity. 
   
• Bulimia nervosa — Patients with bulimia nervosa experience regular episodes of overeating (binging) followed by guilt, which leads to vomiting or the use of laxatives (purging). 
   
• Depression — Patients with depression experience low, dark moods for an extended length of time. There are different types of depression, including general, clinical, major, postpartum and geriatric depression. 
   
• Grief — Grief is a normal emotion, but sometimes it prevents a patient from carrying on normal activities for an extended period of time. Moving beyond this level of grief may require counseling. 
   
• Insomnia — Patients with insomnia have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.  
• Marital problems — A wide variety of issues can interfere with a patient’s relationship with his or her spouse. Counseling may be necessary to resolve these issues. 
   
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) — OCD causes patients to experience unwanted and repeated feelings, ideas, thoughts, sensations or behaviors, triggering certain set behaviors. 
   
• Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) — Patients with ODD exhibit a pattern of hostile, disobedient and defiant behavior toward authority figures. 
   
• Panic disorder — Patients with this type of anxiety disorder experience repeated bouts of intense fear of events that may or may not happen. 
   
• Personality disorders — Patients with personality disorders exhibit long-term behaviors, thoughts and emotions that vary widely from the expectations of the cultural groups to which they belong. 
   
• Phobias — Phobias cause patients to experience unreasonable and ongoing fear of various activities, situations, animals or objects, which others consider to pose little danger. 
   
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — Patients with PTSD experience a physical response to a past trauma involving bodily harm or the threat of death. 
   
• Postpartum depression — Women with postpartum depression experience moderate to severe depression after giving birth. The depression may start soon after delivery or even a year after giving birth. 
   
• Psychosis — Patients with psychosis lose touch with reality and experience delusions or hallucinations. 
   
• Schizophrenia — Patients with schizophrenia have problems thinking clearly, acting normally in social situations, reacting with normal emotional responses and telling the difference between what is real and what is not real. 
   
• Sexual issues — When patients are unable to start or maintain intimate relations with a partner, they may need counseling to resolve these issues. 
   
• Social anxiety disorder — Patients with this condition feel an irrational fear of social situations that may involve judgment or scrutiny from others. 
   
• Stress — Stress is a normal feeling in response to physical or emotional tension. Overwhelming feelings of stress may require counseling to ease the symptoms of frustration, anger or nervousness. 
   
• Trichotillomania — Patients with trichotillomania feel an urge to pull out or twist hair until it causes hair loss.

MacNeal Hospital Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Services

Our inpatient psychiatric services address the needs of the adult community (18 and older). Each of our five inpatient units works with specific populations, including general mental health and adjustment issues, adults with substance abuse problems and geriatric mental health issues.

The goal of inpatient care is to provide crisis stabilization and facilitate prompt re-entry to the home and community through the following services:

• Acute Stabilization and Crisis Management
• Individual, Group and Milieu Therapy
• Recreational, Music and Movement Therapy
• Family Therapy
• Case Management

Geriatric Psychiatry Program

The inpatient geriatric psychiatry program at MacNeal Hospital is designed to treat older adults with mental illness in the context of specific psychiatric, physical, social, and psychological changes that occur in the aging process.

Our specialized treatment team of psychiatrists, nurses, case managers, recreational and physical therapists are experts in the treatment of the geriatric population.

For more information, please call the Central Intake Department at 708-783-3140.

MacNeal Hospital Adult Outpatient Psychiatric Services

Our outpatient programs function as an alternative to inpatient care and as a transition from inpatient treatment to outpatient care. The programs are offered Monday – Friday and include the following services:

Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Psychiatry Services

The goal of our program is to restore wellness and stability through a variety of treatment modalities including:

• Group Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Coping Skills and Symptom Management
• Recreational, Music and Movement Therapy

Contact us at 708-783-3605 or 708-783-3140.

Substance Use Treatment

Our clinical and leadership teams have developed a core program to thoroughly address substance use and dual diagnosis problems. The focus of treatment is to help people overcome addictions, achieve emotional stability and resume healthy and productive lives. We treat those facing the challenges of:

• Alcohol Dependency
• Drug Dependency
• Addiction Combined with Mental Illness

Our structured treatment program offers intensive treatment and support to patients as they integrate new behaviors into their day-to-day activities. The program includes a focus on:

• Substance Use Education
• Relapse Prevention
• Coping Skills and Stress Management

Aftercare Program

Our three month Aftercare Program meets one time per week to support ongoing sobriety and lifestyle changes. For more information, contact the Outpatient BHS Clinical Team at 708-783-3605.

The Euclid Center — Outpatient Counseling

The Euclid Center provides high-quality, individualized outpatient counseling. Our licensed counselors can assist patients with issues such as depression, anxiety or relationship difficulties. Services include medication evaluation, medication management, diagnostic assessment and individual psychotherapy.

Make an appointment by calling 708-783-7430.

Assessment and Referral Department

These services are available 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Our team includes Board-Certified Psychiatrists, Licensed Registered Nurses, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors, Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Certified Addiction Drug Counselors.

Together, we create an individualized treatment plan with expert psychiatric interventions.

MacNeal Hospital accepts most major insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid.

What Types of Treatment are Available with Psychiatry?

Loyola’s skilled psychiatrists specialize in behavioral medicine. Our emphasis is on alleviating emotional and physical symptoms and promoting wellness.

Treatment tends to be shorter than traditional therapy and primarily uses a cognitive behavioral model that focuses on the interplay between mental health, physical wellness and illness.

We offer a wide range of treatment options, including:

• Consult-liaison psychiatry — This area of psychiatry, also known as psychosomatic medicine, focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders in medically ill patients. 
   
• Geriatric psychiatric counseling — This form of therapy helps patients with issues related to aging, which may include transitioning to retirement, more frequent loss of friends and family members through death, loss of independence, progressive illnesses and physical impairments. 
   
• Insomnia treatments — Medication can be used to limit or eliminate disturbing bouts of insomnia. 
   
• Medication management — Loyola offers the latest drug therapies to help manage mental health conditions. Your doctor will explain the benefits and side effects of certain medications that may be considered for treatment. 
   
• Smoking cessation — Smoking can affect a smoker’s physical and emotional health. To strengthen the mind-body connection, your doctor may suggest smoking cessation through medication management. 
   
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) — Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive therapy that uses the latest in technology to treat nonresponsive cases of depression. It is an FDA-approved, outpatient therapy that can have a noticeable impact in just a few weeks.

Comprehensive Services for Pediatric and Adult Psychiatry Patients

Loyola’s psychiatry program provides care for men, women and children in outstanding, conveniently located facilities. We have multidisciplinary facilities at the Loyola University Medical Center campus, in addition to outpatient services at other locations.

We offer the following specialized services to provide you with the most comprehensive care:

• Pediatric and adolescent development and behavioral issues — Loyola provides pediatric psychiatry and psychology services for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems. Our program offers integrated child- and family-centered care within a supportive environment to help children build healthier relationships with family, friends and the community. 
   
• Psychosocial oncology program — Loyola's psychosocial oncology program, located at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center at Loyola University Medical Center, is devoted to helping patients and families affected by cancer manage the stress of a cancer diagnosis and develop coping skills to navigate treatment. 
   
• Center for Sleep Disorders — Our center provides a comprehensive approach to diagnosing and treating both adult and pediatric sleep disorders, including snoring, sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Our multidisciplinary team includes neurologists, pulmonologists, otolaryngologists and oral and maxillofacial surgeons. 
   
• Women’s mental health program — The women's mental health program at Loyola Medicine assists women with pregnancy and postpartum mental health issues.

Ongoing Research and Clinical Trials to Improve Psychiatric Treatments

Loyola’s expert psychiatry program is actively pursuing new research with a focus on patient-centered outcomes. As an academic medical center, Loyola is dedicated to improving future treatments by conducting research on new diagnostics and treatments.

Loyola’s patients benefit from research discoveries made here; read about Loyola’s current clinical trials.