Bipolar Disorder Related Content

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...

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...

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: Emily E. Carol, PhD

Emily E. Carol, PhD, is the clinic director of the Support, Treatment, and Resilience (STAR) Program at McLean Hospital. In this role, she is involved in STAR’s clinical, outreach, research, and training initiatives. Her expertise is in early identification and intervention for emerging serious...

Staff Profile: Efrat Shavit, MD

Efrat Shavit, MD, is the associate medical director of the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital Program at McLean Hospital. She is a board certified psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. Dr. Shavit has a particular interest in complementary and...

Staff Profile: Allison Nelson-Eliot, MSW, LICSW

Allison Nelson-Eliot, MSW, LICSW, is the program director for McLean OnTrack, a first episode psychosis program for young adults. A licensed social worker since 1998, Ms. Nelson-Eliot joined the McLean staff in 2012. Prior to coming on board as a clinician at McLean OnTrack in 2017, Ms. Nelson-Eliot...

Staff Profile: Daniel P. Dickstein, MD, FAAP

Daniel P. Dickstein, MD, FAAP, is a physician-scientist uniquely trained and board-certified in pediatrics, adult psychiatry, and child/adolescent psychiatry. His research lab, the PediMIND Program at McLean Hospital, is focused on identifying the brain and behavior basis behind mental health...

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...

Staff Profile: Elizabeth Liebson, MD

Elizabeth Liebson, MD, is a psychiatrist at the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Inpatient Program, dividing her time between clinical work and teaching psychiatry residents and medical students. She is particularly interested in phenomenology and evaluation of first breaks. Dr. Liebson has been a...