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Psychosomatic Medicine Service

Psychosomatic Medicine is the area of Psychiatry concerned with the psychobiological care of the medically ill. This patient population includes persons of all ages and those cared for in specialized settings such as internal medicine, surgery, organ transplantation, and many others. Psychosomatic Medicine specialists, in addition to providing expert formal psychiatric consultation to medical and surgical patients in the general hospital, specialized hospitals and outpatient clinic settings, also train psychiatrists and non-psychiatrist healthcare providers (e.g., internists, neurologists, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants) in the recognition of normal and abnormal reactions to illness and appropriate psychological care of patients with such reactions.

Thus the Psychosomatic Medicine Service functions both as a consultant and as part of the primary medical/surgical treatment team. Via conjoint rounds and teaching conferences, formal consultations, and involvement in inpatient treatment and discharge planning, the Psychosomatic Medicine Service provides a comprehensive approach to the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral needs of the patient.

This Program Provides

  • Consultation to Stanford Hospital medical/surgical units for patients with psychiatric disorders
  • Pre-organ transplant evaluation to assess patients’ psychological readiness for transplantation, as well as treatment for common psychiatric complications
  • Prevention and management of alcohol and drug withdrawal at Stanford Hospital
  • Competency assessments for participation in medical decision making
  • Psychiatric aspects of pain management
  • Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of delirium
  • Psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic interventions for those suffering from cancer, HIV, terminal illnesses, neurological illnesses, and chronic medical processes
  • Psychopharmacology of intubated patients in the intensive care unit setting
  • Family, caregiver, and hospital staff support for coping with illness or death of a loved one
  • Consultation to hospital staff managing complex patients and the psychiatric aspects of medical processes

Clinic Director

John and Terry Levin Family Professor of Medicine and Professor, by courtesy, of Emergency Medicine and of Medicine