I come from a Jewish Persian background, where my father left Iran to pursue the American dream of seeking the opportunity to redefine himself and my mother who also left Iran at a young age to the US to escape from the Iranian Revolution. Losing my father at age 19 to cancer was the most difficult challenge I have ever faced in my life. Before his death, I hadn’t experienced much adversity in my life and I would have never imagined losing him so early in adulthood. The circumstances surrounding his death really influenced me in pursuing a career as a physician and it has forever changed the way I view how our universe works. My father’s death made me question if there were other treatments out there that could have extended his life or cured him of cancer, this questioning led to my interest in Integrative Medicine.
Nonmedication approaches to mental health treatment, including Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. Familiar with treating depression, anxiety, trauma-related symptoms, ADHD, OCD, mania, psychosis, addictions, and other varieties of treatment-resistant psychological/psychiatric disorders. Also has experience helping patients taper off a variety of medications such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, stimulants, mood stabilizers, and sedatives.
D.O. (studied Osteopathic medicine at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine California)
MPH (studied Public Health at Touro University California)
MS (studied Physiology – Complementary and Alternative Medicine at Georgetown University)
General Adult Psychiatry and Integrative Psychiatry at the University of Arizona – Integrative Psychiatry and Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy Fellowships at the Integrative Psychiatry Institute
I knew I wanted to work in the field of mental health after my 3rd year medical school rotation working in a psychiatric emergency room. I noticed significant trauma and stress had preceded many of the severe psychiatric symptoms I saw in patients and I felt more could be done for these patients that cycled through the system, many seeming to be hopeless for their future.
I have had the painful but rewarding experience of being the commissioner of a fantasy football league with my friends from high school dating back to 2003.
In my conversations with Dr. Omid Naim it became clear to me that his model of helping patients find their own meaningful path towards healing through the power of story telling and community deeply resonated with the way I wanted to practice psychiatry.