The roles of psychology and psychiatry in a headache condition are as important as any pharmaceutical or lifestyle factors within the diagnosis. Quite often, headaches are triggered or exacerbated by psychological or psychiatric factors. These factors may include simple life stresses such as work or family issues, or may involve complex biochemical scenarios like depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder.

At the Diamond Headache Clinic, our multidisciplinary approach to treatment includes psychological and psychiatric elements. At your first visit, we perform an intake assessment, which is used to screen for major psychological disorders and evaluate life stresses. By identifying specific problems, we can determine what, if any, types of psychological or psychiatric interventions most likely will benefit your treatments. If you are admitted to the Diamond Inpatient Headache Unit at Saint Joseph Hospital, your Clinic physician may order sessions with the licensed psychologists and/or psychiatrist who will evaluate your condition. Group sessions on the Unit are also provided to instruct patients about coping skills and stress management.

Our team embraces a variety of therapeutic approaches, such as: psychoanalytical, which encourages the verbalization of all thoughts; cognitive behavioral, which seeks to destruct negative emotions and dysfunctional behaviors; and systemic, which focuses on an individual's interactions in groups and families. Through these well-defined techniques, our psychiatrists and psychologists can improve your awareness of headache triggers, and offer tools for diminishing the frequency and severity of those triggers.