W. Scott West, MD has a philosophy of treatment that involves seeing each patient as a whole person including mind, body and spirit, and as an individual with unique life experiences and circumstances. Dr. West uses psychotherapy and/or medications as indicated to meet the needs of his patients as well as helping them find services to guide them toward a healthy lifestyle. This approach has led him to receive honors such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Exemplary Psychiatrist Award in 1994, as well as the St. Thomas Hospital Humanitarian Award in 2009. Dr. West has an outpatient practice where he treats adults dealing with mood disorders such as depression or anxiety, cognitive or attention problems, stress, relationship struggles and personality/interpersonal issues. He is also Medical Director of the Neurobehavioral Unit at St. Thomas Hospital where his focus is on treating patients with problems associated with dementia or psychiatric problems with medical co-morbidities. He also serves on the clinical faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt where he supervises residents. In April of 2010, Dr. West brought the technology of NeuroStar TMS Therapy® to Nashville, becoming the first physician in Tennessee to offer the option of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for patients whose depression has not responded to a course of antidepressant medication. Dr. West began practicing psychiatry in 1986 following his residency at Vanderbilt University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry. He earned his medical degree from The University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences and graduated magna cum laude from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a B.A. He is a Diplomate of The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in the specialty of Psychiatry and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.