Skyland Trail
Atlanta, GA

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Psychiatrists Join Skyland
Trail Clinical Team

Skyland Trail recently welcomed two outstanding physicians - Belinda McIntosh, MD, and Stephen McDaniel, MD – to the clinical treatment team.

Already part of the Skyland Trail community, both are current or former members of the Professional Advisory Board. As staff psychiatrists, McIntosh and McDaniel will carry out diagnostic assessments, lead treatment planning, conduct talk therapy, and work with patients to develop an effective medication regime. They also follow essential lab tests and adjust medication levels as necessary over the course of treatment to help clients feel better mentally and physically.

McIntosh will manage the dual diagnosis and social integration treatment programs and a portion of the dialectical behavior therapy program. McDaniel will manage portions of the cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy programs.

In addition to seeing patients as a staff psychiatrist, McIntosh will serve as associate medical director. In this role, she will help ensure clinical excellence and help shape ongoing clinical improvements.

McIntosh has worked as a student health psychiatrist at the Georgia Institute of Technology as well as at Emory University, where she served as the interim associate director for psychiatric services from 2011 to 2012.

After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in biology at Harvard College, she attended medical school at Duke University and Emory University. She completed her residency in general adult psychiatry at Emory, where she served as chief resident at Emory University Hospital from 2006 to 2007. She is a former chair of the Mental Health Section of the American College Health Association and a member of the American Psychiatric Association.

Says McIntosh, “I am thrilled to be joining the Skyland Trail team. I consider Skyland Trail to be the epitome of recovery-oriented mental health treatment."

McDaniel was medical director of Skyland Trail from 2002 to 2006. He brings 25 years of clinical and academic experience, including serving as a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine and as medical director of mental health and substance abuse services in the Infectious Disease Program of Grady Health System. He also has more than 10 years of experience in private practice.

McDaniel is a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners, a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a member of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association, and a fellow of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine.

In 1990, he received the Bingham Psychiatric Research Award from the National Association for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he led a Mental Health/Substance Abuse Disaster Relief Team in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. He is a founding board member of Positive Impact Inc. McDaniel received a B.A. and an M.D. from the University of Arkansas. He completed his psychiatry residency at Emory University.

Says McDaniel, “It is a pleasure to be returning to Skyland Trail to join such a great clinical team. The mission is an important one for our community, and I look forward to contributing to the thoughtful, innovative care provided to all clients.”

Skyland Trail is a nationally recognized nonprofit psychiatric treatment organization celebrating 25 years in Atlanta. Skyland Trail serves adults ages 18 and older diagnosed with major depression, bipolar illness, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders. The goal of the treatment program is to help patients recover from mental illness and live as independently and successfully as possible in the community. In addition to leading-edge psychiatric treatment in residential or day treatment programs, Skyland Trail offers integrated medical care and wellness counseling, cognitive remediation therapy, vocational services, and pastoral counseling, as well as innovative art, music, and horticultural therapies.

“We are excited to expand our psychiatric services team and to offer the significant expertise of Dr. McIntosh and Dr. McDaniel to our patients,” says Ray Kotwicki, MD, MPH, Skyland Trail chief medical officer. “Our highly skilled and exceptionally dedicated clinical team is a key driver of our successful patient outcomes and our national recognition as a model for effective evidence-based treatment.”

Skyland Trail is a nonprofit psychiatric treatment organization, serving adults ages 18 and older diagnosed with major depression, bipolar illness, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders. The goal of the treatment program is to help patients recover from mental illness and live as independently and successfully as possible in the community.