The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology is making efforts to respond to the increased patient demand for psychology services. We have expanded our team of psychologists from seven psychologists in September 2020 to 17 psychologists in September of 2022, and we expect to add an additional five psychologists during FY 2023. Our psychologists are uniquely trained to provide evidence-based psychotherapy and neuro-psychological evaluation. In order to connect patients more efficiently to the right providers and services, we created the Psychology Rapid Intake Team (PRIT). Patients seeking psychotherapy are scheduled with PRIT quickly, often within 14 days of referral. The PRIT provider then conducts a risk assessment and detailed interview and connects the patient to the most appropriate therapist to begin therapy.
The implementation of PRIT has significantly reduced wait time to engagement in therapy services by 394% and has more than doubled the number of new patients seen per week. In addition to PRIT, we have several specialty and trainee clinics providing psychology services. Our psychologists specialize in depression and mood disorders, trauma related disorders, behavioral sleep medicine, child behavior disorders, addictions, LGBTQIA+, severe mental illness, ADHD, weight loss medicine, and functional neurological dsorders. In addition, we have established a co-located Integrated Behavioral Medicine Service (iBeMs) within the Gardendale Primary Care and UAB Nephrology clinics. We have also hired a hospital-based consultation-liaison psychologist and an emergency department psychologist, all with the goal of expanding access for patients. Our departmental neuropsychologists provide neurocognitive assessmentsfor complex neuropsychiatric syndromes, post-COVID-19 syndromes, transplant neuropsychology, bariatric surgery, and preventative brain health.