Video: McLean OnTrack: Meet Amy, She Has Psychosis
What is psychosis and what is it like for those who experience it? McLean OnTrack offers treatment and support for people like Amy who are experiencing psychosis.
Bipolar Disorder Related Content
New PACT Team Offers Support 24/7
Monica Luke knows what it’s like to care deeply about someone with schizophrenia. Her son, now 37, had his first psychotic break at age 20 and hasn’t spoken to her in a decade. Although she’s pained by the estrangement, she’s thankful for one thing: she could use his college fund to pay for his care...
Video: Lecture – Core Features and Coexisting Conditions of Bipolar Disorder – Implications for Etiology, Treatment, and Prevention
Visiting Scholars Series Kathleen Ries Merkangas, PhD, National Institute of Mental Health
Brain Training Shows Promise for Patients With Bipolar Disorder
Researchers at McLean Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, have discovered for the first time that computerized brain training can result in improved cognitive skills in individuals with bipolar disorder. In a paper published in the October 17, 2017, edition of The Journal of Clinical...
Hospital Without Walls for Individuals With Chronic Mental Illness
McLean Hospital’s Chloe Pedalino, LICSW, says that individuals receive “wraparound care while they’re in the hospital, but they don’t always get that care after discharge.” This is one reason McLean is launching its new Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT). The program will bring...
Family Funds Space for Young Patients to Gather and Heal
Andrew Smith was an avid sports fan. Always a contrarian, he rooted for the team his family wasn’t supporting. He had a quirky sense of humor, loved chatting on the phone, and taking long walks, often stopping for pizza. When he died in 2011 at age 30, after struggling for years with schizophrenia...
Meeting a Critical Need for the Most Vulnerable Population: McLean Expands Two Acute Inpatient Programs
In early 2016, when McLean Hospital completed the new wing of the Admissions Building, the need for its additional 31 beds was immediately—and dramatically—clear. “Within the week, we were already at capacity,” said Jeanne McElhinney, MS, RN, BC , nurse director for the Schizophrenia and Bipolar...
A Picture Can Say 1,000 Words
After taking dozens of photos of trains at commuter rail stations, Susan Camuti finally captured the image she was seeking. Using a specialized app on her smartphone, she transformed the image of an approaching train to depict what her mania feels like. “When I feel manic, it feels like a train is...
Collaborative Science: Probing Genetic Connections Leads to Successful New Treatments
Collaboration is key to research at McLean, leading to landmark findings that go beyond the sum of the parts. Deborah L. Levy, PhD , director of the Psychology Research Laboratory, recently led one such meeting of the minds. Working closely with Laura Godfrey, RPh, J. Alexander Bodkin, MD , Michael...
Video: Lecture – Predictability in Bipolar Disorder
McLean Forum Ross J. Baldessarini, MD, McLean Hospital
AB2 Slogans Convey Common Message to Its Patients, Families, and Staff
Like all programs at McLean, we take tremendous pride in the care we provide to our patients at the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Inpatient Program (AB2). We have long created a culture of caring that extends beyond our patient population that is felt by our staff, including the residents and...
Staff Profile: Ross J. Baldessarini, MD
A career investigator of the NIMH from 1970 to 2001, Ross J. Baldessarini, MD, is an internationally known research psychopharmacologist with many contributions to the actions of antipsychotic and mood-altering medicines and has trained over 160 laboratory and clinical investigators. He joined...
Staff Profile: Ann K. Shinn, MD, MPH
Ann K. Shinn, MD, MPH, is the director of clinical research in the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Research Program, and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. From 2013-2017, she was the co-medical director of McLean OnTrack, an intensive outpatient program specializing...
Staff Profile: Kirsten W. Bolton, LICSW
Since 2008, Kirsten W. Bolton, LICSW, has been working with patients and their families in McLean’s Division of Psychotic Disorders. A graduate of Simmons College, Ms. Bolton began her work at McLean as a clinical social worker in the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Inpatient Program. Previously...
Staff Profile: Jeanne McElhinney, MS, RN, BC
Jeanne McElhinney, MS, RN, BC, is the nurse director for Appleton and the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Inpatient Program. Ms. McElhinney began her career at McLean Hospital in 1986 and her passion for nursing continues to this day. Her leadership and professionalism has garnered her numerous...
Staff Profile: Cagri Yuksel, MD
Cagri Yuksel, MD, is an assistant neuroscientist in the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Research Program and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His current research focus is studying brain bioenergetics in psychotic disorders using neuroimaging methods. Dr. Yuksel is...
Staff Profile: Xi Chen, PhD
Xi Chen, PhD, was trained in magnetic resonance physics, especially magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) sequence development, during his PhD. Since joining the National Institute on Drug Abuse, his research interest has been on the development and application of advanced MRI/MRS techniques in...
Staff Profile: Stephanie C. Valcourt, MD
Stephanie C. Valcourt, MD, is the medical director of McLean’s Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Inpatient Program and an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. With a medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine, she completed her psychiatry residency at the MGH/McLean...
Staff Profile: Erin B. Sandler, LICSW
Erin B. Sandler, LICSW, joined McLean Hospital in 2013, working at Appleton House as a clinical team manager. Previously, she had worked for over five years with individuals living with post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and psychosis as an outreach social worker contracted through...
Staff Profile: Perihan Esra Guvenek-Cokol, MD
Perihan Esra Guvenek-Cokol, MD, is a double board certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist. She specializes in emerging mental illness in teens and young adults. Her expertise is in early stages of psychotic and bipolar disorders, along with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorders. Dr...
