Department of Psychiatry

Rahn Kennedy Bailey, M.D.
Professor and Department Head
Assistant Dean for Community Engagement

General Adult Psychiatry

The General Adult Psychiatry Section of the Department consists of many diverse programs, each consistent with the overall academic and clinical mission of the Department. We operate 60 inpatient beds at the University Medical Center - New Orleans (UMCNO), including a 15 bed unit focusing on co-occurring alcohol and substance use disorders. We provide psychiatric consultation to approximately 450 patients each month in the emergency department of UMCNO, where we also direct the consult-liaison service for the hospital’s 446 licensed beds. We provide electroconvulsive therapy for inpatients and outpatients at UMCNO.

Adult outpatient treatment is delivered at several New Orleans locations. Our principal general adult clinic, the LSU Behavioral Sciences Center (BSC), is located on the LSUHSC Campus. BSC clinicians consist of psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, as well as trainees in each of these professions. The BSC is a high-volume clinic that includes patients treated both by faculty and by house officers. Our psychopharmacology clinical trials program is also housed at BSC. Additionally, we deliver psychiatric care from within the specialty clinics of UMCNO, principally with faculty, residents and fellows associated with our Consultation Liaison Fellowship. Faculty and residents also provide treatment at several partial hospital programs. We also provide addictive disorders/co-occurring disorders treatment and medical education in community-based clinics, residential detoxification and rehabilitation facilities, and at UMCNO’s addiction and dual diagnosis clinic. Geriatric Psychiatry is a subspecialty within the Adult Psychiatry, which is being expanded. It employs a multidisciplinary approach to care. Geriatric Psychiatry involves a special body of knowledge about developmental tasks, biological aging, psychopharmacology dosing and responses, adverse effects from medications, psychotherapeutic approaches and modifications for cognitive impairment, community resources, family issues, medical and neurological co-morbidities, health care policies, housing options, and increased reliance on multidisciplinary care to name a few. Without this information, inappropriate treatment or ineffective treatment becomes the norm.

Forensic Psychiatry is a subspecialty of psychiatry that focuses on cases where the law and mental health intersect related to criminal and civil competencies, correctional psychiatry, expert witness examinations and testimony, as well as civil commitment. Service sites include UMCNO, LSU-School of Medicine, and various jails and prisons throughout the state.

Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry

The Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry Section is responsible for the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of emotional and behavioral disorders of infants, children, and adolescents. It operates clinical services for patients of all social strata. Different therapeutic modalities are utilized to meet the needs of individual patients and their caregivers. Members of the Section participate in a wide range of clinical and research programs with a special focus on public sector systems of care, children under 6 years of age, children impacted by violence, and pediatric psychopharmacology. In addition, the Section is involved in educational efforts at the medical student and the post graduate level. Emphasis is placed on an interdisciplinary, developmentally influenced, biopsychosocial approach which considers not only the individual child, but the family, peer groups, schools and the community at large.

Psychology

Michelle B. Moore, Psy.D., Section Chief

The Psychology Section is responsible for the provision of clinical psychological consultation, assessment, and treatment services with infants, children, adolescents, and adults. Section members are actively engaged in the teaching/training/ supervision of medical students, psychiatry residents, psychology interns, post-doctoral fellows in clinical psychology, and social work trainees; collaborative research projects; and administrative activities. The Section offers a predoctoral internship in clinical psychology fully approved by the American Psychological Association. The Psychology Section works in close collaboration with other Sections in the Department, Medical School, and Health Sciences Center.

Social Work

Marian “Mel” Selby, LCSW-S, Section Chief and Trainee Fellow Director

The Social Work Section is responsible for the provision of psychosocial and family systems assessments and interventions within the Department’s clinical service programs. Emphasizing an ecological as well as interpersonal approach to the patient, the Section stresses the developmental, familial, community, cross cultural, social, economic and environmental contexts of mental health care. Section members participate in medical teaching and provide didactic and experiential training to post graduate Psychiatry, Psychology and Social Work trainees. Members are also involved in a number of federally funded extramural research projects.