ART THERAPY
Mercy Hospital is the only facility in Miami-Dade County who provides psychiatric patients with a full-time art therapy program. Art therapy provides patients with an opportunity to create a self-generated art piece. The creative process promotes the reduction of anxiety, while promoting self-esteem, organizing thoughts, generating positive thinking and allowing the patients to explore personal issues. The artwork assists the treatment team in recognizing patient’s mood, affect, thought process and identifies issues of concern.
ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY
Mercy Hospital is among the few hospitals in Miami-Dade County to offer Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) as a treatment option to its patients. Two highly trained and certified affiliated physicians provide this service. ECT is used to treat people who are severely depressed. It is mainly used when other treatments, such as antidepressant medications have failed. The procedure takes about 10-15 minutes, with added time for preparation and recovery. The initial 3-4 treatments are administered on an inpatient basis. The patient is then discharged and the subsequent treatments are administered on an outpatient basis.
PET THERAPY
Utilizing pet therapy, the Mental Health Services team is able to tap into past experiences through sensory integration of sight, sound, smell and texture, while also promoting the development of new experiences as a source of future support and companionship.
In meeting the patient's special needs and incorporating a medium that is both patient-friendly and often capitalizes on a positive past experience, the specialized staff brings a treatment out of the traditional setting and makes it a one-on-one bedside experience, even for the most acute patients. Without the barriers of language and culture or physical limitations, the experience is generally a positive one that carries over into the patient’s treatment progress.
