New Driftless Integrative Psychiatry in Lansing offers in-person and video visits to help meet mental health care demand

Driftless Integrative Psychiatry recently opened its clinic doors at 20 North 2nd Street in downtown Lansing in an historic limestone building that once was home to a real estate office and, back in the late 1800s, an implement dealership.

Dr. Erica Burger, psychiatrist and founder of the clinic, and her husband had contacted the current owners, Dave and Josh Bourassa of Cresco, last winter to see if they had any interest in renovating the building, as there were not many other commercial buildings in the area suitable for a medical clinic. The Cresco pair agreed and worked tirelessly to convert the vacant building into a modern clinic space that opened August 1 of this year.

Having grown up in rural Oostburg, WI, Dr. Burger knew that she wanted to live and practice medicine in the rural Midwest. She completed medical school and her Master of Public Health degree from Des Moines University in Des Moines and four years of psychiatry residency training at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN. Prior to opening her clinic, she was employed by Gundersen Health System as an outpatient psychiatrist at Wisconsin locations in La Crosse, Viroqua and Boscobel.

Dr. Burger offers mental health care from a heart-centered and holistic approach, taking into consideration all aspects of a person’s life that may contribute to his or her symptoms. She has specialized training and expertise in integrative psychiatry, which utilizes a number of different treatments to enhance each person’s ability to heal. Treatment options might include a combination of talk therapy, medication, nutrition and other lifestyle changes, botanicals or supplement options.

“One of the silver linings that came out of COVID has been the expansion of telepsychiatry services for those who live outside of the service area of their doctor,” says Dr. Burger. Many of her patients reside elsewhere in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin and have appointments over video. She is licensed to see individuals older than age 18 who live anywhere in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Outside of her clinic work, she helps staff inpatient psychiatric units in rural Iowa and Wisconsin on weekends. She volunteers with the Physician Support Line, providing free and confidential support to physicians around the country, and she mentors medical students at the University of Minnesota.

The clinic is open Tuesdays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Wednesdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Thursdays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Driftless Integrative Psychiatry is self-pay and does not participate with commercial insurance companies, Medicaid nor Medicare. Sliding scale options are available. More information, including online appointment scheduling, can be found at driftlessintegrativepsychiatry.com.

Community group classes will be offered in the future, with a focus on self-compassion and improving mental fitness. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at the clinic once the risk of COVID in Allamakee County is considered low.