Bio:
Bick Wanck, MD
Psychiatrist and Author
One of the founders of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, Dr. Bick Wanck is Board Certified in Psychiatry and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Albany Medical College, in Albany, NY.
In 1986, he founded Bick Wanck MD and Associates, a highly regarded private mental health group practice. His successful therapy treatment program is based on the philosophy that people have inherent self-healing and growth processes, and that they can change negative, distorted perceptions with ones that are positive and healthy.
Bick lectures and writes widely on such subjects as adult personality development and spirituality, adult children of alcoholics, adult children of dysfunctional families, and mentally ill chemical abusers. He has been published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, JAMA (the Journal of the AMA), as well as in numerous trade journals.
Dr. Wanck toured for several years with the leading writers and speakers for the codependency self-help movement. He spoke alongside Jan Woititz (“Adult Children of Alcoholics”), John Bradshaw (“Healing the Shame that Binds You” and a PBS series of the same title), Patrick Carnes (“Out of the Shadows” and “Don’t Call It Love”), and Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse and her husband Joe Cruse (Betty Ford Center). More recently, he presented his approach to healing as outlined in his book, Mind Easing, on a national book tour which included radio and television interviews.
Before starting his own practice, Bick ran the addiction treatment programs in a private psychiatric hospital in New Jersey, treating people of many and varied backgrounds, including movie stars, rock stars, and politicians. But it may be his own story that has provided him with the most powerful perspective. Growing up in Appalachia, he learned first-hand the values of perseverance, persistence and determination. By necessity, he would need to seek out healing for himself. His mission became helping others to do the same. He knows what it’s like to suffer, and what it’s like to get well and flourish.
EDUCATION
Resident in Psychiatry, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK/HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER (formerly Upstate Medical Center), Syracuse, New York; July 1978-June 1982.
Doctor of Medicine, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; September 1973-May 1977.
Bachelor of Science in Biology, PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, State College, Pennsylvania.
HONORS:
Phi Beta Kappa, Pennsylvania State University, 1973;
Biology Honor Society, Pennsylvania State University, 1973;
Penn State Varsity Swim Team, 1971-72 and 1972-73 seasons.
PROFESSIONAL
LICENSURES:
Board Certified in Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry, November 1983.
Board Certified in Addiction Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry, April 1996.
Physician, State of New York, #147260, July 1981
Physician, State of New Jersey, #43210, September 1983
Physician, State of Florida, #MF0065664, March 1991
PROFESSIONAL
MEMBERSHIPS:
American Psychiatric Association, June 1981
New York State Psychiatric Association, June 1981
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, Founding Member 1986
PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE:
Founder, Director and Owner, Bick Wanck, MD and Associates, February 1986-present
Incorporated as Saratoga Psychiatric and Associated Services, P.C. (dba Bick Wanck MD and Associates) in 1992. Organized and managed this private practice group with psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, psychologists, and masters level clinicians. The group provides treatment of mental health problems and addictions for all age groups. Duties include all aspects of overseeing the running of the group and supervision of non MD staff clinical work. Duties include psychopharmacological management and individual, family and group psychotherapy for adolescents and adults.
Management Consultant June 2005 to 2012
Conifer Park, Glenridge, New York.
Reorganize psychiatry department of Nation’s largest (212 bed) freestanding addiction treatment facility. Also provided education and training services for the staff.
Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Albany Medical College, Albany, New York.
September 1986-present; Delivers didactic lectures to residents and medical students; Provides supervision for psychiatry residents; Presents Grand Rounds lectures; Participates in departmental meetings.
MICA (Mentally Ill Chemical Abusers Consultant, New York Sate Office of Mental Health, February 1988-2009;
Held Workshops, supervisory sessions and consultations on patients, and designed programs concerning treatment of Mentally Ill Chemical Abusers and Addicts in New York State treatment facilities.
Director of Psychiatry, Conifer Park, Scotia, New York, February 1986 to February 1988; Directed the Department of Psychiatry of 200-bed inpatient addiction rehabilitation facility; Responsible for development of policies and procedures for the Department; Provided administrative and clinical supervision to physicians, counselors and other hospital staff members; Performed psychiatric evaluation and treatment for adult and adolescent inpatients with addictive disorders in combination with other psychiatric disorders.
Director of Addiction Rehabilitation Program/Director of Outpatient Addiction Recovery Services, The Carrier Foundation, Belle Mead, New Jersey, May 1985-January 1986; Served as administrative director, clinical director, and clinician of both programs; Developed program design, policies, and procedures; Managed all aspects of personnel and budgets; Provided clinical supervision for physicians, social workers, counselors and nurses; Provided direct medical and psychiatric care for patients in alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation and direct outpatient care for addicts and codependents with and without concomitant psychiatric disorders; Conducted program development and clinical supervision for adolescent addiction recovery unit.
Assistant Clinical Professor, The State University of New Jersey,Rutgers University Medical School Department of Psychiatry, July 1983-January 1986; Conducted clinical interviewing courses with medical students; Delivered lectures on alcoholism and other drug addictions.
Clinical Director of the Addiction Recovery Service (ARS), The Carrier Foundation, July 1983-May 1985; Served as clinical supervisor for the 74 bed ARS; Provided direct care and staff supervision for the Foundation’s 24-bed alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation unit, including medical admissions and psychiatric screening, on-going medical care, and case conferences; Directed the clinical component of the 8-bed adolescent addiction recovery unit; Responsible for planning and development of the outpatient addiction recovery service; Conducted EXP outpatient evaluations and treatment for psychiatric disorders.
Staff Psychiatrist, Crouse Irving Memorial Hospital, July 1982-July 1983; Supervised the Soule Clinic (an alcoholism treatment clinic), the Day Treatment Clinic, Evening Treatment Clinic, Drug Abuse Clinic, and Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program; Served as Treatment Team Leader for the clinics; Conducted individual outpatient and inpatient psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy; Served as the Liaison Psychiatrist and Consultant for the private, 550-bed, general, tertiary care/teaching hospital; Supervised psychiatry residents, internal medicine residents, psychology interns, and medical students; Developed and implemented research studies; Responsible for administrative functions, including serving on several hospital committees.
Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry, Faculty Member, Department of Psychiatry, the State University of New York (SUNY), Health Sciences Center/Medical College, Syracuse, New York, July 1982-July 1983; Conducted lectures for psychiatry residents and medical students as a member of the active teaching faculty of the Department of Psychiatry; Served as faculty discussant for the Observed Psychotherapy Seminar for psychiatric residents, psychology interns, and medical students; Participated actively on faculty committees.
Member of the Medical Staff, SUNY, Health Sciences Center, Syracuse, New York, July 1982-July 1983; Maintained admitting privileges and admitted and followed patients for inpatient psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy; Led Inpatient Treatment Team which included psychiatry residents, medical students, social workers and nurses.
PUBLICATIONS:
Wanck, Bick. Reactive Paranoid Psychosis followed by ambiguous cancer diagnosis, Psychosomatics, Volume 4, 439-440, 1982.
Wanck, Bick. The physician-patient relationship as art form and healing form. Paper presented at the Modern Language Association Northeast Annual Conference, Erie, Pennsylvania, 14 April 1983.
Wanck, Bick and Tracy, Kathryn B. Inpatient treatment for adolescent drug abusers; the relationship between family variables and abstinence following discharge. Paper presented at the American Public Health Association Annual Conference, Anaheim, California, 13 November 1984.
Wanck, Bick. Two Decades of Involuntary Hospitalization Legislation, American Journal of Psychiatry, 141:1, January 1984, 33-38.
Wanck, Bick. Treatment of Adult Children of Alcoholics. The Carrier Letter, September 1985.
Dave, Mahendra and Wanck, Bick. Depression in alcoholics; implications and treatment (letter). Journal of the AmericanMedical Association, 12 July 1985, Volume 254, Number 2, 231.
Wanck, Bick. Addiction and Mental Illness; assessing the difference. The U.S. Journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence. January, 1986.
Wanck, Bick. Mentally ill chemical abusers. From: Handbook of Outpatient Treatment of Adults, Michael Thase, Barry Edelstein, and Michel Hensen, Editors. New York: Plenum Press. 1990.
Wanck, Bick. Science backs “Alternative Holistic Healing.” Counselor Magazine. March 4, 2019.
Wanck, Bick. Mind Easing: The 3-Layered Healing Plan for Anxiety and Depression. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc. 2019.
LECTURES:
Lectures, presentations, and workshops presented regionally and nationally regarding his 3-layered healing plan, psychopharmacological treatment, treatment and diagnostic issues in “dual diagnosis” patients, Adult Children of Alcoholics, character pathology and its treatment, and general issues regarding human development. Most lectures presented to professional groups, but also to college audiences and lay audiences including a humor conference.