TRD Inpatient Unit

The Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) Inpatient Unit at the UTHealth Houston Center for Interventional Psychiatry provides 24-hour, hospital-based care for individuals with severe, acute, or life-threatening depressive illness who require the highest level of psychiatric treatment.

Inpatient TRD care is provided on DCB 4C, located within the John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center at UTHealth Houston. This unit is specifically equipped to deliver intensive psychiatric care integrated with advanced interventional treatments for patients with the most complex and refractory depressive illness.

Who We Serve

The TRD Inpatient Unit is appropriate for patients who:

  • Have severe treatment-resistant depression with acute symptom escalation
  • Experience active suicidal ideation, intent, or recent attempts
  • Present with psychotic depression, catatonia, or severe mood dysregulation
  • Are unable to maintain safety or basic functioning in lower levels of care
  • Have not responded to outpatient, IOP, or PHP-level treatment

Model of Care

The TRD Inpatient Unit delivers intensive, multidisciplinary treatment focused on safety, rapid stabilization, and initiation of effective therapies. A matched-care framework guides care and includes:

  • Comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and daily clinical reassessment
  • Intensive medication management, including rapid optimization and adjustment
  • Evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions, focused on stabilization and engagement
  • Close coordination with medical services when indicated

Interventional Treatment Integration

A defining feature of the TRD Inpatient Unit is immediate access to interventional psychiatry services, allowing timely initiation of advanced treatments when clinically indicated. These may include:

  • Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), often used for severe, psychotic, suicidal, or catatonic depression
  • Intravenous Ketamine Therapy
  • Continuation or initiation of Esketamine Therapy (SPRAVATO®)
  • Coordination with other neuromodulation approaches as part of a longitudinal treatment plan

Interventional treatments are delivered within a structured, protocol-driven framework and closely integrated with inpatient care.

Stabilization and Transition Planning

The primary goals of inpatient TRD care are patient safety, symptom stabilization, and establishment of an effective treatment trajectory. Discharge planning begins early in the hospitalization and is coordinated across the TRD continuum.

Following stabilization, patients are transitioned to the most appropriate next level of care, which may include:

  • TRD Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
  • TRD Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
  • TRD Outpatient Clinic

Clear communication with outpatient providers, patients, and families supports continuity and relapse prevention.

Commitment to Excellence

Through specialized inpatient care on DCB 4C, the TRD Inpatient Unit serves as the anchor for the most acute and complex cases within the TRD Program, ensuring that patients with the greatest clinical need receive timely, coordinated, and evidence-based treatment.