About Us
Message from the Chair
The Department of Psychiatry has a three-part mission: to provide regional leadership in clinical care, to educate and train the next generation of clinicians and scientist, and to sponsor nationally recognized research. We are able to achieve these goals through our collaboration with The Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine, and the State of Vermont.
Our faculty are enthusiastic teachers. We are proud of our rich tradition in training residents and now offer a unique integrated child and adolescent residency training program emphasizing family-based pediatric psychiatry and research. A culture of curiosity and learning is evident in all our academic activities, from core medical student rotations to departmental conferences to resident seminars. We expect our residents to learn and to teach, which in turn enhances their professional development.
The Department of Psychiatry has substantial depth in four research areas: substance abuse, child psychopathology, adult psychiatry, and neuroimaging, all supported by numerous NIH grants. Our substance abuse research focuses on the behavioral and biological basis of dependence; novel treatments for alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, opioid and nicotine dependence; and the treatment of demographically-unique populations. This is supported by major center grants that established the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health and The UVM Center of Rural Addiction.
Research in child psychopathology has produced the internationally recognized Child Behavior Check List (CBCL) and developmental neuroscience through our participation in the national ABCD study and others. Research in geriatric psychiatry utilizes functional MRI to investigate the neurobiology of aging and develop cognitive enhancing agents. Resident participation is strongly encouraged with significant research selective time allowed in the the second and fourth years of training.
We provide clinical care in a variety of settings. Multidisciplinary child, adult, and geriatric psychiatry clinical teams evaluate and treat patients of all ages in our outpatient clinics. Our state-of-the-art Inpatient Psychiatry Unit accepts both voluntary and involuntary admissions. The Psychiatric Consultation Service cares for medical and surgical patients that need our expertise, while the Crisis Service and First Call responds to adult and child emergencies in the community. Seneca Center offers group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in three levels of treatment: a Partial Hospital Program, an Intensive Outpatient Program, and a new Mood and Anxiety Disorders Clinic. DayOne and the Addiction Treatment Program integrates comprehensive individual and family treatment of substance abuse disorders with practices derived from intensive research.
Regards,
Robert Althoff, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair of Psychiatry
Location & Facilities
Academic Offices
The Department of Psychiatry is located on the University Health Campus at 1 South Prospect Street in Burlington. Learn more about living in Burlington. As a network department within the University of Vermont Health Network
we also operate units at our campuses at UVMHN- Central Vermont Hospital
in Berlin, VT and UVMHN- Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in
Plattsburgh, NY
Clinical Facilities
The Department of Psychiatry, in conjunction with The University of Vermont Health Network, operates clinical locations in Burlington. One at the Medical Center Campus, and one at University Health Center Campus.
We operate adult inpatient units at UVMHN-CVMC in Berlin, VT and UVMHN-CVPH in Plattsburgh, NY. We provide child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric services at UVMHN- CVPH as well.