BOARD CERTIFICATION

Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

People are complex. A person is not a disorder, a disease, or a diagnosis. Therapy can be valuable for everyone, particularly at times of intense change, loss, or personal trauma.  With expertise in psychopharmacology and individual psychotherapy, I maintain a patient-centered, integrative approach to treating the whole person. 

I am passionate about diagnostic evaluations and offer many second opinions and consultations across the Vegas valley. I believe that best treatment outcomes result from a comprehensive diagnostic assessment that evolves in the context of an individual being treated as a whole and not just a set of symptoms and medications, if warranted, used as a tool in conjunction with psychotherapy and other treatment modalities. In addition, symptom control should only be seen as a milestone towards to road to wellness and creating a life worth living. I firmly hold the belief that spending collaborative quality time with a person geared towards establishing a comprehensive treatment plan that they are an integral part of is key to quality mental health treatment especially as comorbidities are often a rule and human beings are complex. 

I have an interest and expertise in treating Mood and Anxiety disorders, ADHD, personality disorders and OCD. I have a keen interest in Reproductive Psychiatry, which aims to diagnose and treat mental health issues that maybe related to a woman’s reproductive cycle, including the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause. I have a deep interest in offering mental health support to health care providers who are dealing with professional burnout and moral injury in the context of a health care system that rewards self-neglect. I work with professionals and business executives who are learning to navigate their personal and professional loves with presence and purpose.

Although I provide psychotherapy services with or without any medications to many people, I enjoy practicing dynamic psychopharmacology in a collaborative care model with local community therapists, Internists and Family Practice physicians.

I follow an evidence-based practice, but also recognize the limitations of the current scientific research model to navigate the complexities of mind-body-spirit connection. I practice theoretical model agnosticism and I am not adherent to any one modality of clinical practice. My primary fidelity is to use what fits, (which is usually multiple perspectives), with a given person. Therefore, I use psychoanalytic thinking, CBT, DBT, ACT, IFS, Compassionate Inquiry, Mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing, Attachment theory, Polyvagal theory, Somatics, Epigenetic and biological models, where appropriate, as tools to inform my understanding and treatment of a person and meet them where they are. Most importantly, I believe that a person and their inner healing intelligence when engaged with reverence and consideration leads towards their own transformation and journey towards wholeness.

I believe that people are a complex ecosystem of various parts, sub-minds and sub-systems (mental, emotional, social, spiritual and physical and environmental) that are diverse, interconnected and interdependent and constantly interacting inside of us and with what is outside. We work to understand, engage and harmonize these various parts under the active leadership of the Self/Spirit/Soul/Consciousness/Atman/Buddha Nature or Inner wisdom.

In addition to traditional forms of psychotherapy, I now offer ketamine assisted psychotherapy and a deeper, consciousness-expanding experiential therapy with the entheogen ketamine in intramuscular form. A growing body of research shows that Ketamine is a powerful intervention for depression, anxiety and PTSD and suicidality. The beliefs we hold and the stories we tell ourselves shape our identity, our perceptions, our internal model of ‘perceived’ reality and our relationships. Ketamine allows a dissolution of some rigid and inflexible way of perceiving and experiencing ourselves and the world around us. It allows one to question our firmly held beliefs and assumptions and build a more flexible mind so that we have a broader range of responses available to deal with challenges of our lives.

2010-Present  Private Practice at the Cairn Center, Las Vegas, NV

2011-2013         Assistant Professor at University of Nevada School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry

2010-2011         Senior Psychiatrist, Crisis Unit, Rawson-Neil Psychiatric Hospital, Las Vegas, NV

2006-2009     Consultant Psychiatrist, Apex Medical Center, Las Vegas, NV

Education and Training

2021                  MDMA Assisted Therapy training with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

2021                  Internal Family Systems Coach training with Guthrie Sayen PhD

2020-2021       Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy training with the Polaris Insight Center and PRATI

2012-2015        Dialectical Behavioral Therapy training with Alan Fruzzetti PhD

2013-2014        Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy – Levels 1 & 2 with Stan Tatkin PsyD, MFT

2013                  Master Psychopharmacology Algorithm and Child Adolescent Master Psychopharmacology Course with API

2005-2006     Fellowship in Mood Disorders and Advanced Psychotherapy and Research at the Department of Psychiatry UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX

2002-2012       Psychoanalytic Training at the Dallas Psychoanalytic Institute, Dallas, TX

2001-2005      Psychiatric Residency including Internship at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX

1999-2000      Medical Internship at Narinder Mohan Hospital, Ghaziabad, India

1994-1999        Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Medicine at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Karnataka, India

Professional Memberships

American Psychiatric Association

American Psychoanalytic Association