Mental Health Center

Our Team is Growing! We are happy to announce that Dr. Jooyeon "Joo" Lee joined our group & is now accepting new patients! Dr. Lee is a psychiatrist specializing in geriatric and general adult psychiatry. She has worked with patients from diverse backgrounds in various settings including academic institutions, city/county hospitals, and the Veterans Administration Hospital. She is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Lee just finished her g...eriatric psychiatry fellowship at UCLA and will also be starting an outpatient position at UCLA Behavioral Health Associates later this year. Dr. Sarah Mourra worked with her over the last year and raved about her work, as did her supervisors there. "Dr. Lee is a fantastic clinician with a great knowledge base, wonderful empathy for patients and their families, and sharp clinical instincts. We are very lucky to have her join our practice and look forward to working with her in continuing to achieve excellence as a well-rounded practice with every specialty in psychiatry represented." -- Dr. Sarah Mourra https://www.mentalhealthctr.com/portfolio/jooyeon-lee-md/

"For almost everyone, video or audio based telehealth will remain a better choice than meeting in-person behind masks, screens, face shields, disinfectants, physical distance, ventilation, symptom monitoring, contact tracing, and the like." https://www.forbes.com//want-to-see-your-therapist-in-pe/

Even though LA County is on the #RoadToRecovery, the risk of COVID-19 remains high for those 65 and older, as they are more vulnerable to serious illness or death. Seniors remain #SaferatHome. Find out more by visiting: https://bit.ly/2xlrYBa

The Mental Health Center is committed to your well-being, and our team is fully dedicated to the continuation of care through this global pandemic. Psychiatry in the United States has seen extremely rapid changes in the last few weeks. Our center has adapted to the coronavirus pandemic by shifting 95% of our visits to telehealth. Our patients and staff have quickly and easily moved to the new format, and we have found patients greatly appreciate the ability to be seen from th...e comfort of their own home or office. Our staff now communicate mainly by e-chat, email, and video conference, but we still answer questions on the phone if a patient prefers to call. New Telehealth Services Now Offered: - Individual psychiatric medication management via HIPAA-secure telehealth visits - Virtual individual & group therapy, including new Virtual DBT-Informed Skills Group - Refill or prior authorization requests by email - Online appointment scheduling 24/7 Office visits are only available for medications that must be directly administered at our office (Vivitrol, ketamine, etc.). Our providers wear masks and gloves in their patient interactions and recommend patients wear masks as well. We know it’s important to our patients and staff to feel supported during this threat to our communities, to prevent disruption to treatment, and provide the support our patients need. We hope that this virus is contained as quickly as possible and that everyone acts responsibly and does their part to stay safe and healthy. Warm regards from our team at The Mental Health Center https://mailchi.mp/mentalhealth/our-team-is-growing-4857785

http://theconversation.com/7-science-based-strategies-to-co

Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression Now Available! When people try and fail 2 or more traditional antidepressant medications, their depression is treatment-refractory and they may be a candidate for ketamine treatment. Ketamine is safe, well-tolerated, and its use in depression has been supported by a steady stream of research in the last few years. What makes ketamine special?... 1. It treats depression very quickly, usually within a day. 2. It reduces self-harm thoughts and behaviors, which no other antidepressant does (only lithium and clozapine share this benefit). 3. It is more effective than typical oral antidepressants in treatment-refractory depression, having a 70% response rate. We administer ketamine in a variety of ways in our office: IV, as an injection in the shoulder, or as the FDA-approved nasal spray (esketamine aka Spravato). Another exciting application is ketamine’s role as a tool to facilitate therapy, called Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). To learn more about our ketamine treatment program, click https://www.mentalhealthctr.com/ketamine-treatment/

Happy Holidays from the Mental Health Center! A photo of us from our annual holiday dinner

Reduced Fee General & Addiction Psychiatrist Available at Cedars-Sinai Medical Towers Hours: Mondays 9 am to 1 pm Fees: Initial evaluation $250; 30-min follow-up visits $125... Please call our office at 310-601-9999 or visit our website at MentalHealthCtr.com to make an appointment.

Reduced Fee General & Addiction Psychiatrist Available at our office Hours: Mondays 9 am to 1 pm Fees: Initial evaluation $250; 30-min follow-up visits $125... Please call our office at 310-601-9999 or visit our website at MentalHealthCtr.com to make an appointment.

We are thrilled to announce 2 fantastic child psychiatrists and a great addiction psychiatrist have joined our office at the Cedars-Sinai Office Towers! More details, as well as a link to a nice article published in the American Journal of Psychiatry by Sarah Mourra, MD can be found at: https://mailchi.mp/mentalhealthctr/our-team-is-growing

We are proud to announce that our office is now a clinical rotation site for the UCLA Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program and can therefore offer low-fee psychiatric services. Call us at 310-601-9999 to schedule. www.MentalHealthCtr.com

Great NPR piece on the opioid crisis and its impact on families: https://www.npr.org/20//01/567688826/opioids-in-the-family

People with ADHD tend to procrastinate things, including going to bed. Sleep hygiene is the ideal solution, though melatonin or other medication could be solutions in more severe cases. https://www.wsj.com//could-how-you-sleep-be-linked-to-adh/

Mental Health & Addiction Issues are the #1 Leading Cause of Disease Burden in the US (& other fascinating statistics) http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2646703