Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
College of Human Medicine

MSU-CHM Division of Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine: Power Through Collaborations

The Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine is the teaching, research, and patient care arm for the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in West Michigan. The division physician faculty are committed to educating Michigan State University medical students, conducting ground-breaking research, and caring for the people of western Michigan who are suffering with mental health and substance use disorders.

The Division of Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine is a growing academic psychiatry program in a place known for the last 100 years for providing excellent clinical care.  We are combining the resources of Michigan State University, a research-1, Big Ten university, with the clinical strengths of our partner teaching hospital, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, one of the five largest free-standing psychiatric providers in the United States, and the Van Andel Institute, a top-tier private research institute, to make incredible breakthroughs in psychiatry.  In this short film, we hope to introduce you to a few of our faculty, and highlight our growing clinical-translational research programs in depression and first episode psychosis as well as our new, state-of-the-art training facilities for residents and fellows.

“Can We Make Managing Stress and Anxiety More Manageable? Insights from Psychological and Brain Sciences”

Pine Rest GRAND ROUNDS SERIES

Registration is now available for the April 21, 2021 Virtual Pine Rest Grand Rounds presentation. 

Join us as we welcome Jason Moser, PhD

Noon-1:00pm
Sign-on 10 min. prior

Presentation:

This lecture will present information regarding common emotion regulation techniques, their applications and their limitations. Neuroscience and psychological approaches to the study of emotion regulation and its applications will be the focus. A primary thrust of the talk will be to help attendees critically evaluate emotion regulation techniques to identify those that work for particular persons in particular contexts as well as identify those that are most easily implemented across persons and contexts for scalable application to the broader population.

Pine Rest chosen to participant in National Institute on Aging study

A five-year study will investigate the use of ECT to treat sever agitation and aggression in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Louis Nykamp, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at MSU College of Human Medicine, will be serving as the Pine Rest principal investigator for this study.

“It is wonderful to have this grant from the National Institute on Aging. We have been interested in the use of ECT for the treatment of advanced dementia for many years and have been offering this treatment to patients and families for a long time,” says Eric Achtyes, MD, MS, DFAPA, staff psychiatrist, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, and associate professor and chair of Michigan State University College of Human Medicine's Department of Psychiatry West.  

Read more about the National Institute on Aging study

Schizophrenia patients more willing to manage symptoms using smartphones

Dr. Eric Achtyes, associate professor and chair of Michigan State University College of Human Medicine's Department of Psychiatry West, has found that most patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder are willing to use a smartphone application to help manage their symptoms, including after regular clinic hours.

“Individuals with serious mental illness can and do interact frequently with a mobile health app that provides added support to help them manage their illness,” said Achtyes. The app FOCUS is not intended to replace clinicians, Achtyes said, but is “meant to fill in those gaps” when professional help is not readily available.

Read more about managing symptoms using smartphones

Studying the Ethical Development and Use of PEIs

The U.S. National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative awarded a four-year, $1,414,478 grant to a group of Michigan State University researchers, include Dr. Achtyes. The team will guide the ethical development and use of psychiatric electroceutical interventions (PEIs) and study the concerns, beliefs and attitudes of PEIs among psychiatrists, patients and other groups. Read more