The last pdoc I was assigned to actually when I was in a psych hospital after a suicide attempt (my first pdoc refused to treat me any longer after all the unsuccessful suicide attempts I'd had)......at first I didn't like him because in the hospital it seemed like he barely talked to me but threw meds at me......HOWEVER.....after we talked & we got to know each other better, he was the best possible pdoc I could have had for my situation where I always had horribly bad side effects from the med that I was given.........

Anyway, I found out, he's originally from Argentina & did his med school at University of Buenos Aires. He moved to Israel from there to do an internship and a general psychiatry residency at hospitals affiliated to Tel Aviv University. After that, he moved to New York, where he completed fellowships in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and in Biological Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. From there he moved to Calif & UCLA then opened his own private practice where he actually focuses on integrative holistic psychiatry for children, adolescents and adults. He uses conventional psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic treatments along with nutritional supplements and herbal medicine. He is also has been a principal investigator for more than 100 clinical trials of new medications for depression, generalized and social anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, and ADHD.

GEEZE, how lucky could I have been by chance to have been assigned to him.....at the hospital when I commented to the staff that I wanted a different pdoc, they were very kind & told me that I really should talk with him & work through the issues, then make my decision. I was with him for over 10 years before I left my H & moved 2100 miles away (H also went to him for a trial on adult ADHD) which he also thought there was more wrong with my H than just that but H wasn't willing to do anything about.

I also went to a psychologist who worked out of his office who was also from Israel.....I really liked him but his style of therapy was to just sit & listen with very seldom any feedback.....however my pdoc experimented with me using the lightbox that he loaned me for awhile......& by the end after horrible side effects such as joint stiffness so I couldn't walk, then other med caused the parkinson's like symptoms where I couldn't even feed myself of walk into the bathroom alone,.....he did help me get through the nightmares after the trauma I had the last year seeing him....& he tried working with me on the anorexia that was triggered by the trauma.....but in the end, his best choice of all was the Omega 3 -EPA at about 1800mg/day. He found that studies say that it's the EPA that works on depression....the DHA works on the health of the body. I actually grew to respect him more than I realized after I moved away.....I no longer go to a pdoc but have found a wonderful psychologist who wishes at times I would be willing to try something for the anxiety level I deal with but after we've talked, she understands that living alone & with the bad side effects I've had that attempting to try another med just isn't a good thing to do.

I'm not consistent with the Omega 3 fish oil that is high in the EPA....but when I am, I do feel a LOT BETTER.

He was also great at supplying samples of meds so that I didn't have to pay.....& that was the same for my H.....but most of all the best aspect was that he had natural alternatives that he knew & was willing to try that didn't involved meds at all. He also knew the horrible problems in our marriage & at times wouldn't release me from the hospital to go back to that life which was initially when he provided me with the psychologist in the hospital who I continued to see afterwards.

It was quite a drive from my house...over 1 hour away....but it was worth it....quite different from the pdoc I had first gone to who was actually from the Philippines & got his psychiatric degree there. He was good, but nothing like the pdoc I ended up with as he was one who would just keep throwing drugs at you & then wouldn't believe the side effect I was having even when I was in the hospital.......so it was a very GOOD change to someone who truly treats the patient.....& works with the patient to truly find alternatives to the meds