Welcome from the Department Chair
Welcome to the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV.
Our department prides itself in excellence in patient care, top-notch educational programs, and clinical innovation. We host a large, successful general psychiatry residency program with 10 trainees per year, many of whom serve the Southern Nevada community upon graduation. In addition, we have fellowship training programs in both child and adolescent psychiatry and forensic psychiatry, which also fulfill our mission to support Southern Nevada’s psychiatric community, and our department is home to the UNLV Couples and Family Therapy graduate program.
Mojave Counseling, our clinical footprint, has a 30-year history serving the severely mentally ill population in Southern Nevada with interdisciplinary treatment programming: day treatment, targeted case management, psychiatry, primary care and psychotherapy. Medical students and residents/fellows are an integral part of the team.
Our department is actively involved in clinical research programs, such as First Episode Psychosis, and we partner with the department of psychology on innovative clinical programs addressing early onset bipolar disorder and early severe mental illness.
Las Vegas’ landscape includes urban, suburban, and rural areas in which we practice. The region has a richly diverse population, and that is mirrored amongst our team. Membership in our local APA district branch is the most diverse in the nation.
Psychiatry is an exciting field – at UNLV, we aim to grow and embrace our ever evolving field.
– Lisa Durette, MD
Associate Professor and Interim Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program Director
Department Overview
The Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health encompasses hospital and clinic-based mental health services and educational programs in psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, and couple and family therapy. The department consists of more than 10 full-time faculty plus over 30 community-faculty associated with the many public and private facilities in Las Vegas with which we have collaborations.
Patient care services take place at Mojave Counseling, University Medical Center, and in collaboration with other public mental health agencies in the area. The UNLV Mojave Counseling clinic has been serving clients with mental illness in Las Vegas for the past 25 years. The success of our various programs can be seen across Southern Nevada with our graduates working in numerous private and public hospitals and clinics.
In addition, UNLV has the only couple and family therapy (CFT) program in the state of Nevada that is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy. Accreditation places us in the top ranks of all marriage and family therapy programs nationally, with faculty scholarship and research productivity higher than the national average. Our faculty members have published more than 21 books on new therapies and techniques, which benefit couples and families all across the country.
The program seeks applicants who have the capacity to sit with patients experiencing physical and emotional pain, realizing that listening is a powerful healing factor. We are interested in individuals who are psychologically-minded and interested in their own personal growth.
Gregory Brown, MD