Welcome to the winter edition of Brainwise, in which we hope to impart some brain — and mind and also body — wisdom. So much of medical care is fragmented, with each specialist tending to their part of the metaphorical elephant. Several of our programs seek to understand and treat the whole person, including illness in the brain, demoralization in the mind and imbalance in the body.

Our chronic pain program is a prime example, and Glenn Treisman and Traci Speed have made their service a destination for difficult-to-treat patients. Speed currently co-chairs the Behavioral Medicine Committee of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

Our Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry Division is another place where our whole-person focus is prominent, as often a patient’s physical and psychiatric issues interact prominently, and concerns about mood and meaningful connections can be inseparable from brain changes. Clio Franklin is well positioned to thrive in this space, having practiced general medicine for four years in England before entering psychiatry. Fun fact: She’s also the great-niece of one of the most famous female scientists in history: Rosalind Franklin, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.

Our geriatric program is well-known in part for producing the world’s best-selling book for caregivers of people with dementia, The 36-Hour Day, written by our Professor Emeritus Peter Rabins, and recently released in its eighth edition, after selling more than 4 million copies.

Another educational product of ours, the Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide, was just re-released in a substantially revised and expanded digital version. It is composed of several hundred brief overviews and how-to discussions on approaches, treatments and illnesses, and includes sections describing our unique Johns Hopkins methods and perspectives. We’ve added patient education sections and a new section devoted to psychedelic medicine. The result is a tool of great value for students and clinicians around the globe.

Are we succeeding in making a difference with our approach? A patient who called my office recently thinks so. She had this to say about the very wise Jeff Hsu, who treats our patients with addiction, HIV and co-occurring psychiatric disorders: “When I first met Dr. Hsu, I had been so ill and so upset. He has been so considerate, kind, understanding and compassionate. I couldn’t imagine anyone being more supportive. Whenever I reach out to him, he gets back to me very quickly. To me, there is no better psychiatrist on this earth.”