UNMC Adult Psychiatrist Ashley Walters, MD, looks to bring integrative medicine to the Psychiatry Department.
Dr. Walters graduated from the Integrative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Arizona in February.
Dr. Walters calls integrative medicine, “a new area of medicine where the goal is to integrate Western medicine with evidence-based complementary treatment modalities.”
“Integrative medicine includes many different things, like diet and exercise, but also mind-body techniques like meditation, traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, botanicals, supplements, vitamins, and minerals – everything that we studied in the fellowship has evidence behind it,” she said.
Dr. Walters joined the UNMC faculty in October 2023. She sees general adult patients as well as patients with intellectual development disabilities. As a long-time practitioner of Ashtanga yoga, Dr. Walters looked for new ways to treat her patients. Ashtanga is a system of yoga that emphasizes the synchronization of breath with a progressive sequence of postures, aiming to purify the body and calm the mind.
“I’ve always been interested in ways to improve my mind and body. The integrative medicine program allowed me the chance to incorporate those interests into my psychiatry practice.”
Dr. Walters plans to continue to incorporate more integrative medicine into her practice, including auricular acupuncture. She looks to be the only physician located in Nebraska to be board-certified in both psychiatry and integrative medicine.
Way to go Dr. Walters! I appreciate your insight and forward thinking.
So proud of Dr. Walters for being the first Integrative Medicine fellowship trained psychiatrist in our department and likely in the whole state of Nebraska! She has brought a compassionate, holistic and skilled approach to her patients in our clinic and is highly respected by all of her colleagues. Well done!
Looking forward to hearing more about this! Sounds so exciting!