I have been practicing psychiatry for more than 17 years. I have settled in Southwest Florida  bringing all my expertise to this beautiful community. My specialty is the treatment of Oxycontin Addiction,  Cocaine Addiction,  Alcohol dependence, and Crystal Meth Addiction using state of the art outpatient Suboxone and new medication treatments.

I like to welcome you to my practice site. Although I treat mood and anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders my interest in the specialty of addiction evolved as a result of the needs of different communities.  Addiction Recovery was not my first choice since during training, addictions was  an incurable problem. It was not even viewed as  a disease by medical, mental health professionals and patients. As time went by, I noticed there was a need in society for physicians and allied health professionals to  treat addictions and its consequences. Thus,the many professional opportunities were towards this specialty.  By default, the treatment of addictions became a primary area of specialization. Drug rehab almost always co exist in the treatment of other conditions such as depression and anxiety. Addictions has become the easy solution for the afflicted by self medicating illnesses that have evolved since childhood. The stigma and negative media stereotypes is much to be blamed along with our impulses of immediate gratification. The metaphor no pain no gain is non existant in the addicts mind since the use of drugs and alcohol is to simply hide the pain.

However, I came to the realization that the belief system that addiction was a problem of character was obviously flawed. Addiction is a real medical disease with specific areas of the brain being affected. The efforts of many agencies including Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and physician from the American Society of Addiction Medicine, American Society of Addiction Psychiatry and many other specialties have brought to light via research how addiction can literally rewired your brain.

We physicians were trained with a mind set to cure and alleviate suffering. Drug addiction  was not one of those illnesses that did not fit that description because of the frequent re admissions and relapses of patients.  Drug rehab during my training there were few effective modalities to help patients. Addictions became a revolving door illness with each entrance the patient lost more of themselves, their jobs, marriages, their children, their families, their spiritual purpose in life and yes even their "minds" Addictions lead often to psychosis, worsening of mood problems and anxiety. During my training there appeared to be no relief in sight. Drug rehab was a  specialty that was not very interesting and indeed psychologically exhausting and frustrating.

Fortunately, developing discoveries in research has lead to safe and effective treatment options that would allow the addicted individual to gain some control of their lives during their recovery especially in out patient settings.  There are many new and exciting treatment options that include VIVITROL, Campral, Suboxone and the most recent PROMETA Treatment Program. Prometa treatment is the only one today that has immediate impact in reducing craving from methamphetamine, cocaine and alcohol addiction as well as improving cognitive functions that result form these chemicals. All these treatments are an important part of drug rehab.

One of the messages I like to send out to the public via this web page is that now physicians define addiction as a medical disease and therefore now we have medication options to treat these diseases in drug rehab.  Also these diseases co exist with other underlying problems such as anxiety, mood disorders and severe personality dysfunction.

Mood disorders (depression and bipolar disorders), anxiety disorders (social phobia, panic disorder, GAD-generalized anxiety disorders), thought disorders (schizoaffective disorders) and addiction disorders are all treatable diseases. The brain is an organ like the heart, lungs, kidneys and pancreas.

As a principal investigator and sub investigator in many pharmaceutical research projects, I have been privy to new and exciting treatments to come. I have been invited to various radio interviews including the  Judy Piazza show. This interview was done when I was practicing in Miami. My current  practice now resides in Bonita Springs Florida surrounded by tropical sights and the most spectacular sunsets.

I am now able to offer New medical treatments and Suboxone in Naples, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Southwest Florida and  South Florida for Narcotic Addiction, Oxycontin Addiction,  cocaine, meth and alcohol addiction is now a reality with no hospitalization. Continues monitoring with new sophisticated devices allow physician to perform detox procedures without hospitalization.