978-463-1066
Psychiatric Services for ages 16 and above
Mary Lord, Director of Psychiatric Services, Anna Jaques Hospital
978-834-8448
Anna Jaques Hospital Child Psychiatric Unit for ages 4-15
Whit Inzer, Program Director, Amesbury Health Center
978-521-7777
Crisis Team (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assess what kind of care you will
need including in-patient care)
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES (FOR AGES 16 AND UP)
The Anna Jaques Hospital Mental Health Unit has provided a continuum of mental health
services for twenty-three years. We provide you and your family professional care with
some of the areas most experienced practitioners. Our unit provides its patients with
confidentiality and is available for adults on an in-patient and partial hospitalization
basis.
In-patient Units for Patients
In-patient care at the Anna Jaques Mental Health Unit continues to be an important resource
for the patient who is in need of emergent stabilization and immediate comprehensive
psychiatric assessment. We provide brief, acute in-patient care to adults and adolescents
from the age of 16 and up with a broad spectrum of psychiatric problems such as mood
disorders, psychotic disorders, substance abuse, trauma, developmental disorders and
disruptive behavior disorders.
The in-patient program is a 20-bed acute care unit located at Anna
Jaques Hospital. This co-ed unit contains 12 patient single and double rooms and three
common areas.
Partial Hospitalization
Partial Hospitalization is a structured program of active treatment for psychiatric care
that is more intense than the care you get in your doctor's or therapist's office.
Services Offered
Utilizing a multidisciplinary staff, both the in-patient and partial hospitalization
programs approach treatment with a comprehensive view. Each patient is assigned to a
treatment team consisting of a psychiatrist, nurse, social worker, counselor and
occupational therapist.
A full range of services is offered including:
- Assessment
- Stabilization of psychiatric symptoms
- Coping Skills
- Family intervention
- Aftercare planning
Clinical services and treatments may include:
- Comprehensive and multidisciplinary evaluation
- Psychological and brief neuropsychological assessment
- Psychopharmacologic evaluation and management
- Crisis-oriented intensive family therapy
- Consultation to schools and residential programs
- Case management and collaboration with outpatient clinicians, family and other community
agencies to facilitate an integrated approach, to establish comprehensive transition plans
and to promote functioning
- Individual therapy
- Group psychotherapy
Dual Diagnosis Program
Our multidisciplinary team offers a range of specialist expertise and works collaboratively
with mental health and drug treatment services to individuals with mental illness and
substance use problems.
The aim of the program is to focus on two important aspects: Treatment
of alcohol and drug abuse, and treatment of mental health issues to improve health outcomes
of individuals with a dual diagnosis.
ECT treatments Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
ECT treatments Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is a procedure used for in-patients and out-patients to treat severe depression. It is generally reserved for people in whom symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, or suicidal thoughts could be harmful or even life-threatening. ECT may be used for severe depression when other treatments, such as psychotherapy and antidepressant medications, have failed. ECT is staffed by psychiatrists, registered nurses and anesthesiologists.
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES (FOR CHILDREN AGES 4-15)
Within a safe, nurturing, structured hospital setting, the Anna Jaques Hospital Child
Psychiatric Unit, located at the Amesbury Health Center, provides care to children in
crisis who are diagnosed with a mental illness.
Our philosophy of care includes:
- Recognizing the importance of caring for the whole child: mind, body and spirit.
- Believing that all children and families have the potential for emotional growth.
- Using a child and family's individual strengths to promote emotional health and
improvement in functioning.
- Working as a team, in alliance with the child, family, and any agencies or treatment
providers involved.
- Our overarching goal is to help improve a child's ability to function within the
community.
Program and Treatment Overview
The Anna Jaques Hospital Child Psychiatric Unit, is an in-patient treatment unit that has
12 beds, an outdoor play area and a comfort room that creates a soothing and peaceful space
for the safety and privacy required for the children that participate in the program. Once
the child arrives at the unit a treatment plan is implemented. The plan lists the child's
strengths and difficulties, why the child was brought in, the goals for treatment and how
the practitioners and family will work together to meet these goals. Treatment plans help
the staff, the child, and their families work together on the same problem with the same
goals in mind.
The child's treatment plan is started by the treatment team which
consists of a psychiatrist, nurse, social worker, mental health worker and occupational
therapist during the first 1-2 days on the unit. The family's input is crucial. The child's
therapist will discuss the treatment plan with the family and will give the family an
opportunity to add issues and/or address all concerns.
Within 24 hours a psychiatrist will talk with the child and conduct a
history and physical examination. The child's therapist will meet with the patient and the
family on an ongoing basis through-out the stay. Daily activities will include meals,
free/play time, and therapeutic group meetings. Therapeutic group meetings include: music
therapy, goals group, anger management, art therapy, relaxation group, cooperative games
group, and substance abuse group.
During the child's stay the family is welcome to visit with them between
the hours of 8:30 am and 7:30 pm. The treatment team begins planning the child's discharge
on the day he or she is admitted. Discharge planning is done simultaneously with treatment
planning due to brief and intensive hospital stays. The child will be discharged from the
unit when the treatment team and family decide that he or she no longer requires intensive
care.
Community Mental Health Events
Events are scheduled throughout the year. Admission is free to the public. Call
978-463-1175 for information on upcoming activities. Check
our Events page for upcoming events.
For your convenience we have a complete listing of physicians
under Mental Health in our Find a Physician
section.
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