The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences has a significant impact in the Sacramento community and beyond. From providing mental health care services throughout the greater Sacramento area, to training the next generation of culturally aware physicians who are better equipped to understand the important role of mental health in the overall provision of health care, to engaging in nationally funded, leading edge research in several important areas including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), fragile X syndrome, Alzheimer’s, dementia and cultural disparities in mental health, our department is a recognized leader in psychiatry both regionally and nationally.

Explore our four key missions

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Patient care

Through our outpatient behavioral health clinics, we provide a comprehensive range of mental health services for adults and children. Our specialties include adult psychiatry, child psychiatry, trauma recovery and a nationally recognized early psychosis program.

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Training and education

We offer a number of residency, fellowship and specialized psychiatry training programs and are one of only two institutions in the country offering combined psychiatry residency training programs in internal medicine and family medicine. Through a cultural psychiatry component, we also help prepare future physicians in addressing mental health disparities and serving a diverse patient population.

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Research

Our faculty includes nationally recognized researchers and physician educators. The department ranks 14th in the nation for psychiatry research funding with major strengths in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders as well as imaging, aging, dementia and early psychosis.

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Community engagement

Our location in the capitol affords us the opportunity to be involved in providing mental health services for programs at the county and state levels as well as in the local Sacramento community. These programs serve an economically and ethnically diverse patient population, including homeless and incarcerated patient populations.