I believe medicine and mental health can be both evidence-based and
practical, and I tell every one of the parents of my young patients that, “I am a
parent first and a doctor second,” when we develop a treatment plan. It’s easy
to look around and get frustrated with the "medicine first"
mentality- a quick fix to treating the complexities of psychiatric diagnoses, and I have made it my life's work to help people identify the mind-body connection with a holistic approach to psychiatry.
I take a conservative but evidence- based approach to medication management
with the belief that the path to better mental health and functioning is a
mosaic- a multidisciplinary approach including lifestyle changes, therapy, and
pharmacological management when appropriate.
I am proudly from Volusia County, growing up in the Edgewater/New Smyrna Beach area and
going to Spruce Creek High School. I went on to the University of Central Florida and started a nonprofit
organization in Volusia to help deliver food to homeless individuals as a means
to improve communication with the community. The organization ended when I
attended medical school at Ross University while simultaneously getting my
Master's in Public Health through Michigan State University.
After serving as a chief resident at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in New
Jersey, I went on to complete a fellowship at Harvard Medical School - Boston
Children’s Hospital in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, where I served as a
Chief Fellow with focuses on Emergency Psychiatry, Problematic Interactive Media Use,
and academic research.
I am to be dual board certified in Adult (2019) and Child and Adolescent
(2020) Psychiatry with specialized training in ADHD, OCD, ASD, substance abuse
and psychotherapy. During my time at Boston Children's Hospital, I helped
develop a treatment manual for Problematic Interactive Media Use as I have
always had a passion about the overlap between mental health and interactive
media.
