Dr. Laurie Ballew, D.O.ED.D.DLFAPA

Dr. Laurie Ballew grew up in West Paducah, KY and graduated from Heath High School. She attended Murray State University for undergraduate and graduate school completing her Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology. Dr. Ballew achieved her Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech Pathology and worked for 16 years as a Speech Pathologist while also completing her Doctorate in Education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville TN, before deciding to further her career in medicine.

Dr. Ballew attended Des Moines Medical College in Des Moines IA where she attained her medical degree and completed an internship in Family Medicine at Broadlawns Medical Center. She completed her residency in Psychiatry at the University of Louisville in Louisville KY and achieved Board Certification in Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Addiction Medicine. Dr. Ballew was an Associate Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Science department at the University of Louisville for 20 years. After her tenure at U of L Dr. Ballew returned to her home town of Paducah and was the Medical Director of Inpatient and Outpatient psychiatry at Lourdes-Mercy Hospital.

After owning and managing her private practice for the past several years Dr. Ballew has chosen a new path to allow more time to spend in direct patient care and has joined Four Rivers Behavioral Health in Paducah KY. This dynamic move will give the administrative aspect of behavioral health to Four Rivers. Dr. Ballew will assist in seeing patients with mental health issues across the life span, drawing on her background in speech pathology, family medicine, addiction , adult and geriatric psychiatry in providing care. She will also bring her philosophy and practice of Holistic Psychiatry with her to Four rivers Behavioral Health.

Dr. Ballew is currently Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Louisville and is Community Faculty of the Western Kentucky Initiative for the University of Kentucky. She has served as Professor of Behavioral Health at the Pikeville College of Medicine in Pikeville KY.
Dr. Ballew has been awarded Who’s Who in America, Top Psychiatrist in Addiction in the US the past four years, and Best 100 Doctors in Kentucky for 2024.

Dr. Ballew sees patients who are 18 years of age and older . She has added specialization in Adult ADHD, Geriatric psychiatry and dementias as well as Addiction Medicine. Dr. Ballew believes in the Holistic approach to patient care, focusing on the entire person, the emotional, physical, and cognitive aspects of each individual.

Dr. Ballew’s prayer each morning is thanking God for the new day and asking that she may provide the best to each person that she meets that day.