Ancient cultures throughout the world have recognized that emotional vibrancy and well-being spring from a life lived in balance — a life sustained by whole foods, rich with both energizing and calming activity, and emphasizing one's connection with community and nature. In such a context, the spirit is strong and resilient, with the capacity to embrace and grow from pain and loss, which are natural conditions of human life.
Integrative Psychiatry
In modern-day culture, which is often deprived of the elements of a balanced life, emotional wellness may be harder to achieve. When physical injury, interpersonal loss or chronic illness enters one's life, nurturing the spirit becomes especially challenging. Sometimes, a sense of losing one's spirit occurs, which may manifest as anxiety, depression or difficulty taking care of oneself.
The UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health offers a number of services to enhance each person's capacity to promote his or her own emotional well-being, as well as their self-awareness, especially when confronted with inevitable stresses of life. We concentrate on a person's strengths and their ability to use their own resources for self-care.
Our approach stems from integrative psychiatry, which uses both conventional and complementary medicine remedies in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Osher Center practitioners are attentive to the many dimensions that affect both distress and psychological wellness in their clients. These include a person's physical, emotional, interpersonal, behavioral, nutritional, environmental and spiritual dimensions.
Conditions treated
Services are designed to enhance a person's emotional well-being can be used to treat a number of conditions, including:
- Anxiety
- Bipolar disorder
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Chronic pain syndromes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol dependency
- Eating disorders
- Fibromyalgia
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Evaluation
Your first visit will include an emotional wellness consultation with one of our board-certified psychiatric doctors who are trained in both conventional and complementary medicine. Our doctors work side by side with conventional and complementary medicine practitioners and understand the interplay between the multiple healing systems that can be used to enhance emotional wellness, especially with respect to physical injury, chronic pain and complex medical conditions.
During your first consultation, the doctor will ask you about your psychiatric and medical history. Then he or she will discuss the range of available therapies and will work with your primary care doctor and other health providers to create an integrated plan that is best suited to your individual needs.
The initial comprehensive consultation involves two visits that will each last 45 minutes. Subsequent visits may be recommended as appropriate.
Treatment
The emotional wellness consultation will result in a treatment plan that is specific and unique to each individual. The treatment plan may include any combination of the following:
- Conventional psychotherapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy
- Conventional pharmaceuticals
- Botanical or herbal remedies
- Ayurvedic massage
- Nutritional counseling
- Yoga and movement exercises
- Meditation and relaxation
- Mandala drawing
- Dreamwork and symbology
- Guided visualization
- Acupuncture
UCSF Health medical specialists have reviewed this information. It is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or other health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have with your provider.
