I grew up as the son of a child and adolescent psychiatrist. My father often worked long hours and weekends to provide for our family and accommodate the schedule of his patients. As a young child, it seemed like the hardest job in the world because I never saw him. As I got older, I would go to his office to earn money helping organize/clean after which we would play a game in his office or go to the hospital’s game room where we would decide between ping pong, billiards, air hockey or arcade games. I would often remark, “Why do you work so hard? This job is so easy. All you do is play games all day!” He tried to explain that during the activity, his patients would become more comfortable, open up, share their experiences and they would work together to improve the patient’s state of mind.

In high school, I volunteered in a classroom with emotionally distressed children and was struck about how challenging it was physically and emotionally. In college, I spent my summers working in a special education school and was directly exposed to different treatment modalities. I gained a greater appreciation for my father’s comprehensive approach compared to other providers as he integrated medication when needed, various therapeutic methods, behavior modification, nutrition, exercise, etc. I was humbled as many patients and colleagues would remark about how my special my father was because he viewed each patient as an individual rather than a diagnosis and looked to treat the whole person not just their symptoms.

Despite these experiences, my primary passion was to become a teacher and coach as my dedication to athletics had led me to become a high school All-American and NCAA Division 1 wrestler. In fact, after graduating college, I worked as a middle school teacher and high school wrestling coach. However, I did apply to medical school and after one year of teaching, decided to pursue a career in medicine. In considering a specialty, I was drawn to psychiatry given the ability to integrate medicine, teaching, coaching and the ability to treat each patient as an individual. My psychiatric training at Johns Hopkins was based on a model of evaluating mental health and in terms of biology, behavior, personality, life experiences and development.

Given my personal athletic success, medical knowledge, comprehensive psychiatric training, and extensive clinical experience, I have developed several programs for individual athletes, elite sports teams, coaches and parents to address emotional barriers including performance anxiety, managing injuries and the recovery process, teaching mental skills training, developing a competitive mindset and creating a plan to achieve fulfillment in sports and transition to life after competition. I integrate various practice modalities including but not limited to supportive psychotherapy, CBT, ACT, motivational interviewing, mindfulness, behavioral modification and medication when necessary.

It has been incredibly rewarding to help athletes achieve immediate improvement in sports performance but also gain confidence in managing and overcoming challenges beyond athletics. The self-awareness and insight my programs foster have also enabled several athletes to reach out directly to access mental health treatment when they had previously been resistant! The patients, families, and organizations I have the privilege to serve remark how much they appreciate my approach and outcomes by treating the complete person, not just the individual symptoms. Sound familiar?!