Meet The Team
Board Certified Psychiatrist, M.D.
Hans Stelmach
First and foremost, we are grateful to you for taking your time to learn more about our practice. We are humbled and will always try to serve you with humility. I am honored to have graduated as a physician from the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and was blessed to have furthered my education by completing a General Psychiatry Residency from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then a Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship from Duke University Medical Center.
I value the healing power of faith, motivational coaching and counseling. Over two decades of practicing the Art of Medicine and Psychiatry, I know that the best medicine doesn’t always come in pill form. I realize that an integrative approach, pulling from any and considering all healthy sources of possible treatments, is the best “medicine” for people. We strive to properly understand who our clients are as individuals with the goal of achieving one’s ideal state and sense of self through a custom tailored treatment plan. My personal journey with colon cancer has provided me new optics into the importance of integrative medicine.
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I strive to live and practice with intention and authenticity. The area in your brain and in your heart may be finite, but the growth that comes from reveling in your challenges and failures is infinite.
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Phone: +1 (910) 399-8273
Physician Assistant, DMSc, MHS, MA, MBA
Melissa Rice
I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2004 with a double major in Psychology and Communication Studies. I started working in the mental health field immediately after graduation and held various roles including residential counselor, crisis intervention specialist, case manager, and behavioral health program supervisor. I completed a Master of Arts in psychology from East Carolina University in 2007. While working in behavioral health, I found a passion for psychopharmacology, which led me to physician assistant school. Since graduating from PA school at South College in Knoxville, TN in 2014, I have provided psychiatric treatment to adolescents and adults in the outpatient, inpatient, emergency room, and university settings. While working at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in their student health center, I received a MBA with a healthcare management concentration.
While completing my Doctor of Medical Science degree at the University of Lynchburg, I've been providing at-home Ketamine treatment to those struggling with anxiety and depression. I completed my degree in June 2022, with my doctoral manuscript focused on the "Clinical Use of Psychedelics in Modern-Day Psychiatry."I'm excited by the promising evidence for utilization of psychedelics as a treatment option.
As a goal-driven individual myself, I enjoy helping my patients develop and actualize short- and long-term goals. I support my patients in identifying and overcoming the barriers that have kept them from reaching their maximum potential in the areas of life they wish to improve upon, whether emotional health, relationships, occupation, nutrition, and/or physical health.
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Phone: +1 (910) 399-8273
Email: MelissaRice@23psychiatry.com