MHP New Directions Hosts Expert Aggression Psychiatrist
Mahaska Health Partnership
OSKALOOSA – Mahaska Health Partnership New Directions hosted Charles Scott, MD, an innovator in the understanding and research of aggression.
“Providers who attended the seminar we sponsored featuring Dr. Scott were able to benefit from his 20 years of experience researching and helping people who struggle with aggression,” MHP Director of New Directions Stephanie Faulkes said.
Dr. Scott is the chief of the Division of Psychiatry and the Law and the forensic psychiatry training director at the University of California, Davis. He is board certified in general psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. He lectures nationally on the topics of violence, risk assessment, juvenile violence, substance use and violence, the assessment of sex offenders, correctional psychiatry and malpractice issues in mental health.
More than 50 practitioners from across the state, including all of the providers at New Directions, attended the one day seminar. “The purpose of the presentation was to provide those in attendance with a toolkit for dealing with aggressive patients so those situations can be diffused more quickly,” Faulkes shared.
According to Dr. Scott, aggression is broadly defined as overt behavior involving intent to behave destructively toward another organism. He explained that specific aggressive acts can be separated into emotionally-laden/impulsive or planned and controlled. “His explanation of the different types of aggression helped providers see different ways to communicate and treat patients based on the root cause of the problem,” Faulkes explained.
Counselors at MHP New Directions are available Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, as well as emergency coverage 24/7. New Directions offers a wide variety of treatment options and backgrounds from behavioral health to treating substance use disorders as well as offering medication management and other therapies.
To see how MHP New Directions is making healthcare personal, visit mahaskahealth.org or call 672-3159 for an appointment.
Photo caption: Dr. Charles Scott presented to a group of behavioral health professionals from around the state.
