February is Psychology Month. It is intended to highlight the contribution that psychology as a profession adds to Canadian life, and the role that psychologists themselves play in improving the lives of so many Canadians. Certainly, many patients who have gone through Humber River Health’s Mental Health and Addictions Unit are keenly aware of how much help the hospital’s psychologists have given them.

Humber River Health’s Mental Health and Addictions Unit is composed of social workers, nurses, occupational therapists, psychiatrists and two psychologists, Dr. Heather Wheeler and Hanna Wilmer. Unlike psychiatrists, psychologists do not prescribe medications. Instead, they carry out complex assessments of patients, and provide a range of treatments that can help with mental health problems, emotional challenges, and other disorders.

“We tend to think of what we do as putting together a puzzle,” says Hanna Wilmer. “We figure out what pieces are missing, where they might fit, and the use this information to, for example, put together an evidence-based treatment program for depression and anxiety.”

While psychologists play a different role within the system than psychiatrists, they share with their colleagues a deep commitment to bringing about a greater awareness of mental health concerns, and improving public access to effective treatment.

“People still either don’t want to talk about it, or don’t understand how real a problem it can be,” says Dr. Wheeler. “We have patients arriving at the hospital in terrible distress, whether from depression, anxiety, or some kind of drug or alcohol dependence. They need our help, just as much as if they were having a heart problem, or a broken leg.”

The patients who arrive at Humber receive that help. Their problems are identified, they receive treatment, and they return to their homes and communities understanding more about themselves than they did before. That is what psychology, like all health care at its best, can do.