Psychiatric care can be warm, detailed, and personal

Hi there, I’m Patricia.

It’s nice to meet you!

I love to take the time and space to get to know you and hone in together on what’s most important.

I believe that true healing is an inside job, and my role as a psychiatrist is to support your natural inner healing process. We do this in lots of ways, creating the conditions in which your authentic self can grow.

I absolutely love working with growth-oriented, curious people who want to explore their minds on a deep level and make significant transformations.

This lights me up!

Let's Talk

Training

Education

Stanford Health Care: Psychiatry Residency

Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons: Medical Training

Tufts University: Bachelor of Science, Biopsychology, cum laude

Psychedelic Training

UCSD: COMPASS Tier 4 Psilocybin Therapist Training, 2024

CIIS Certificate in Psychedelic Therapies and Research, 2024

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, The Clinic & Polaris, 2021-2024

MDMA Assisted Therapy Training via Lykos, Parts 3/4, 2023

The Science of Psychedelics, 2021

Organizations

PMA – Psychedelic Medicine Association

APPA – American Psychedelic Practitioners Association

ASKP3 – American Society of Ketamine Physicians, Psychotherapists, and Practitioners

Certifications

TEAM-CBT Level 3 Certification - in progress

Palo Alto Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program, 2021

Board Certified, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, 2021

DEA Controlled Substances Certification, 2017

California Medical License, 2017

Experience

I have a broad range of experiences informing my practice style.

I’ve worked in hospitals and emergency rooms diagnosing and treating severe conditions.

In training, I had specific training in women’s mental health, integrative psychiatry, ADHD evaluation, treatment resistant depression, OCD, TMS, ECT, and student health (grad and post-grad).

I sought out therapy training beyond basic requirements and I have training in TEAM-CBT, classic CBT, psychodynamic therapy and others (TLDP, ISTDP, IPT, CBTi). I also held a weekly support group of post-graduate women in STEM fields.

After training, I worked in all levels of care: hospitals, residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient programs, and outpatient clinics.

I have advised primary care doctors on medications, and screened participants for the first fully remote clinical research study at a start-up investigating medications targeting neuroplasticity.

In these settings, I have worked with people from a large variety of cultural backgrounds and experiences.

I aim to stay informed and practiced regarding trauma-informed, LGBTQ+ affirming, and culturally sensitive care, acknowledging the impact that trauma, stress, and systemic influences like racism and discrimination can have on mental health.

My particular interest is in experimental therapies and psychodynamic psychotherapy, which explores root causes and how past experiences affect our current lives, and CBT, which focuses on how our thoughts and behaviors impact our wellbeing.

For 3 years, I trained in ketamine assisted psychotherapy. I served on the ketamine program committee at The Clinic. I also helped train other clinicians through teaching and co-leading together.

Since 2024, I have paused my ketamine work so that I can be a psilocybin facilitator for research at UCSD.

…

My approach emphasizes warmth, openness, empathy, and non-judgement.

Collaboration and responsiveness are important to me - taking your experiences into account, and working together to make a plan designed just for you.

Working with women with anxiety, ADHD, residents & physicians, and psychedelic integration in talk therapy has been some of my favorite work.

I’m excited to bring this knowledge and experience to our work together!

How I got here…

I’m an existential bug.

Engrossed by the dazzling images of space documentaries, I wanted to be an astronomer.

The Big Questions swam in my brain - what are we a part of, what came before the big bang?

Age nine, watching clouds through the car window wondering “what is god, really?”

You know, kid stuff.

But astronomy is a lot of equations on paper. Oops. So, I pivoted.

From outer space to inner space.

Leafing through religious texts like an anthropologist-detective with a deadline,

I landed on my final conclusion:

“Okay, so far as we know for sure, we have this life to live.

And all we have at the end of the day is our subjective experience…

So… We might as well make it a good one!

But what does good mean? How is it different for different people? And how do we help them get there?

This became my driving philosophy.

In college, no one wanted to be on the mental health committee, so I headed it.

In medical school, snuck psychiatry books away for home-reading.

Finally, in psychiatry, I found my home.

There, therapy and transformational medicine captured me.

How our biology and our minds work together.

For subtle yet meaningful shifts that could last a lifetime.

What’s your definition of better?

About Me

Where are you from?

My family immigrated from Romania to the United States when I was 4 years old.
I was raised in Florida and have spent time in the Northeast before settling in California.

When I’m not seeing clients, you will likely find me…

Scoping out flower fields (wild and cultivated) - coastal wildflowers, roadside clusters, hidden meadows, lavender fields, and most recently the ranunculus farm in Carlsbad.
Pushing my pup Luna on a surfboard! (or her boogie boarding on my back)

One day I want to…

Try a silent meditation retreat for a week, maybe even 3 months!
See the northern lights, another solar eclipse, or sled down white sand dunes as far as the eye can see.

One day I might learn how to…