Behavioral health at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health offers a broad array of behavioral health services to provide the right care at the right place at the right time.

From convenient counseling services right at your primary care physician’s office to leading-edge depression treatment or inpatient crisis intervention, we’re here to help you build a better life.

If you’re experiencing a behavioral health emergency, call 911, go to the nearest emergency department, or call crisis hotline 988 or Lancaster County Crisis Intervention at 717-394-2631.

The integrated counseling program at each of our primary care practices allows you to see a medical provider and a licensed clinical counselor at the same office. We work directly with your medical provider as part of your complete care team to help with issues like:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Health concerns
• Life changes
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Relationship issues
• Stress and burnout

We offer evaluations through Addiction Medicine to address a variety of substance use disorders, and potential medications that can help to address cravings and enhance your recovery. Our providers will explore if medications such as buprenorphine (Suboxone, Brixadi, Sublocade) and naltrexne (Vivitrol) may be right for you.

Interventional psychiatry is a method of treating mental health disorders by targeting how nerve cells in your brain work (neuromodulation). It’s typically reserved for people whose symptoms haven’t improved with traditional medications or psychotherapy.

We may recommend interventional psychiatry for people with treatment-resistant:

• Bipolar disorder
• Catatonia
• Depression
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Schizophrenia

We offer noninvasive and minimally invasive interventions, allowing us to select the right treatment for your needs. Our therapies include:

• Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS): TMS is a drug-free treatment that delivers magnetic pulses to your left prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that may be underactive if you have depression.
• Esketamine nasal spray: Esketamine is an antidepressant medication that we deliver through a nasal spray. It’s more potent than traditional oral antidepressants and can provide rapid relief for people with treatment-resistant depression.
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): ECT is an outpatient procedure that uses electrical stimulation to produce a brief, mild seizure. The stimulation changes the chemical activity in the part of your brain that regulates mood and emotion.
• IV Ketamine: IV ketamine infusion therapy is administered in low doses under the close supervision of a doctor. It is known to be a safe, effective therapy for certain mental health conditions that have not been relieved through other treatment methods. A referral from your primary care provider is required to make an appointment.

We are pleased to announce the development of our Crisis Walk-In Center, dedicated to people with low-risk mental and behavioral health issues. The CWIC allows you to get immediate help from a team of Behavioral health professionals and Certified Peer Support Specialists in a calm, comfortable setting – without going to the ER.

We offer care management, brief counseling and care management, psychiatric oversight of care, and peer support to community-based services/resources for people experiencing mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety, stress, and other issues.

Board-certified psychiatrists and nurse practitioners offer evaluation and medication management for people with chronic psychiatric disorders such as:

• Bipolar disorder
• Major depression
• Personality disorder
• Psychosis
• Schizophrenia

We meet with you regularly to make sure you’re benefiting from your drug therapy, review your prescriptions, assess side effects, and answer your questions.

Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital offers inpatient treatment for adults and adolescents who need urgent, 24-hour care for a mental health crisis.

This facility, a partnership between Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health and Universal Health Services, Inc., is the only freestanding psychiatric hospital in Lancaster County.

We refer people who need detox and stabilization for a substance use disorder to one of several reputable inpatient facilities in the area.

If you’re in our emergency department or hospital and need urgent behavioral health support, an experienced team is by your side. Our behavioral health care coordinators provide on-site consultations and connect patients and family members with the appropriate referrals and resources for treatment.