Psychiatrist.
Cancer Survivor.
Writer. Teacher.
Mad Rapper.
Hi there. My name is Elana and I’m a psychiatrist based in Los Angeles, California. I have a clinical practice focused on integrative psychiatry, mentor other physicians and practitioners to build their own practices, and occasionally write a mad rap.
Here are a few of the things I believe in:
- That good medicine requires both scientific rigor and common sense—and knowing when to apply which one is most of the job
- That Eastern traditions have been thinking seriously about the mind, suffering, and healing for a very long time—and perhaps Western psychiatry could learn a thing or two from them
- That the body’s natural state is healing. Our job as clinicians isn’t to force recovery—it’s to identify the biggest obstacles and remove them. The body knows what to do from there.
- That we don’t like to use the word “love” in medicine—but feeling genuinely cared for is one of the most powerful healing forces we have.
I received my B.A. in psychology at Harvard University before studying medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, where I was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. I completed my psychiatry residency training at the University of California, Los Angeles, where I was nominated as a UCLA Exceptional Physician and served as the first chief resident of the Resident Psychotherapy Program.
Something felt off to me about medicine from early on—I just didn’t have the words for it yet. In medical school I noticed we were taught things as permanent truths that would be overturned within years. I watched research get conducted and reported in ways that had more to do with what was publishable than what was actually true.
I found integrative psychiatry in residency, almost by accident, and something clicked. Here was a framework that was rigorous but honest about the limits of the evidence — that treated patients as individuals rather than statistics, and took seriously the things that don’t show up in a clinical trial. I was excited to finally graduate and practice.
Then, six months before finishing residency, in December 2013, I was diagnosed with stage IV lymphoma.
The next several years looked different than I’d planned. Chemotherapy, a remission, and then a relapse and a stem cell transplant. Cancer took up most of my thirties, and I wrote about my experience with cancer and path to healing as it was happening, as honestly when it was hopeful as when it was sad.
What those years gave me—besides a very specific understanding of what it means to be a patient—was clarity about what I was willing to wait for. When you’ve been that sick, you stop waiting for permission to build what you actually believe in. You just build it.
So I stopped asking permission to practice medicine the way I actually believed in. I built my practice, and then I started teaching other practitioners to do the same—because the ripple effect of one well-trained clinician reaches further than I ever could alone.
I currently have an integrative psychiatry private practice based out of Los Angeles, California where I use both traditional medicinal and holistic non-medicinal approaches to help people overcome anxiety, depression, trauma, and PTSD to live happier and more fulfilling lives.
I also run Dream Practice Academy, where I’ve helped 370+ psychiatrists and PMHNPs build their own practices.
Living an authentic life requires both reflection and action. It necessitates both examination and experimentation. I appreciate you joining me here and I look forward to helping (or at least entertaining) you along your journey.
My Journey
2004 – 2006
I graduate from Harvard in 2004 with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and language citation in Spanish, and then take 2 years off to travel & study in Mérida, Mexico and do clinical research in psychiatry at Stanford before starting medical school.
2006 – 2010
I study medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. I go into medical school thinking I want to be a surgeon, but realize by the end that psychiatry is my real passion.
2010 – 2013
I start residency in psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles. I begin to explore and study integrative medicine, and in late 2013 I’m only six months away from graduating residency and starting my own private practice. I can’t wait to incorporate what I’m learning about holistic healing into my work, and I feel like I’m coming into the most exciting time in my life.
Dec 2013
On December 17, 2013, I go to the ER for what I thought were minor symptoms — but it turns out I have Stage IV Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. I could die within weeks without treatment. Treatment is 3 years of chemotherapy.
2014
I start the intensive phase of chemo right after my diagnosis, and I handle it pretty well at first. As the year drags on, though, my ability to mentally cope with the stress and physical illness becomes overwhelmed by the trauma of my treatment.
2015
I finish my year of intensive chemotherapy and start the next phase: two years of maintenance chemo. Little by little, I start to feel physically better. Underneath, though, I’m still struggling with painful memories and reminders, and fear of what my future holds.
2016
Despite my internal turmoil , and despite still being on maintenance chemo, I decide I need to get back out in the world again. I join Bumble and start to date, and within a few months I meet my future husband, Daniel. In September 2016, I have my final dose of chemotherapy.
2017
Treatment is finally over, and I return to residency to finish my last few requirements to graduate. I finally get to start my integrative private practice and practice the kind of medicine I have always longed to practice. I love it.
May 2018
I get married!
2018 – 2019
I continue working and teaching, and my private practice is nearly full. I start to appreciate that PTSD is still having an effect on my life, though, and I undergo a 6 month course of Prolonged Exposure therapy, where I face my fears so I can put cancer behind me and move forward. Life is good—really, really good.
Aug 2019
Five and a half years after my initial diagnosis, my cancer unexpectedly relapses. The prognosis is not as good this time, and I will need a stem cell transplant. I feel horrible and hopeless—my worst fear has actually happened.
Aug – Oct 2019
Prognosis for my type of lymphoma after relapse is poor. I start chemo, afraid it won’t work—but it does. I fear I won’t find a matched stem cell donor (because I’m adopted)—but I do. I’m afraid the transplant won’t work—but it does..
Oct 2019 – Present
I’m recovering from my stem cell transplant, and in remission. So far so good. Life continues…
Maybe this is a story,
— (A Poem By Me)
Maybe this is a poem.
It starts where the last one ended — A New Beginning.
It continues, unafraid, without knowing.
