I strive to help patients with caring, insightful and practical solutions to the problems that they face. I work in a friendly, informal manner with patients. I dress casually and my office is unpretentious and full of playful artwork and objects. I believe in being interactive and that the most effective treatments rely upon a strong working alliance, mutual trust and respect between doctor and patient.
I am very concerned with physical as well as mental health and hope to help people make that connection. Physical fitness is a key component of mental fitness. Exercise is an evidence based and safe approach to treating depression for instance, and when appropriate is an important part of all my treatment recommendations. While many people in Marin have already tried nonspecific alternative remedies before consulting with me I am interested in the use of evidence based alternative treatments in psychiatry.
As a psychiatrist with medical training I offer medications as well as psychotherapy in an effort to help people achieve better symptom relief and control over their lives. Psychiatrists are trained as doctors first and spend years learning general medicine before specializing in mental disorders. We are also thoroughly trained in psychotherapy. I have a background in psychodynamic psychotherapy and find that to be an elegant approach to understanding mental states and character structure. I have over the years become much more interested in cognitive behavioral solutions as a way to help people achieve even more impressive results. I believe in focusing on current “here and now” interpersonal situations and internal mental states in order to help people adapt more successfully in their lives.
I see individuals and do not offer couples, family, or group therapy. I believe in working with families and partners when patients consent in order to ensure that they get the most effective interventions. This is particularly true for adolescent and elderly patients. In addition to offering psychotherapy I also work with a number of excellent psychotherapists in the Bay Area and provide their patients with medication consultations and treatment. Working together with other therapists is gratifying and opens up multiple perspectives for patients as they struggle to cope with their challenges.