During this time of increased stress and anxiety, the UW Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is available to provide UW Medicine staff and faculty with free, informal, telephone or video-based conversations with one of our more than 50 volunteer clinician colleagues. These conversations are not formal healthcare and are intended as an opportunity to discuss your concerns and to support your general well-being during this exceptional time in our community.
The team is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to facilitate scheduling but conversations can occur outside these hours. Requests for support can be made online via this link: COVID Support Request or by leaving a confidential voice mail message at 206.221.2768. A member of our Mental Health Navigator team will check for messages multiple times per day and will respond to all inquiries to facilitate scheduling. Requests received after hours and on weekends will be responded to on the next business day.
UW Medicine staff and faculty do not need to be registered patients of UW Medicine to speak with one of our clinicians, no medical record documentation will be generated, and there is no cost to you or your insurance. The conversation is confidential unless there are safety concerns for you or another individual as safety and mandatory reporting requirements still apply and all requests will be purged once conversations are completed. Speaking with one of our providers does not replace or alter your mental health and substance use disorder benefits that are administered through your insurance provider or services available via the UW CareLink.
Please note, this is not a crisis or suicide hotline and does not constitute or substitute for clinical services. If you or a UW Medicine colleague are suicidal or in crisis, you should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
Jürgen Unützer, MD, MPH, MA
Professor and Chair, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Mollie Forrester, MSW, LICSW
Director of Patient and Family Experience, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Anne Browning, PhD
Assistant Dean, Well-Being
Trish Kritek, MD, EdM
Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs