Chronic Depression Dysthymia near Nyack, NY

Biography: Leah Susser, MD, is a Reproductive Psychiatrist and is Program Director for NYP/WCM Ambulatory Reproductive Psychiatry.She obtained her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and she completed psychiatry residency training at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell. In residency, she specialized in women's mental health and in perinatal psychiatry through the Payne Whitney Women's Program.Since completing residency in 2016, she has dedicated her career to providing people with specialized reproductive mental health care and consultation. This includes people who are planning to get pregnant, pregnant, expecting a child, postpartum/new parents, who have experienced perinatal loss, who are experiencing infertility, who are in the menopausal transition, and who are experiencing mental health symptoms related to the menstrual cycle. She has published numerous articles and presents at national conferences on topics related to reproductive psychiatry. She provides specialized consultations to inpatient, outpatient, and partial hospital teams as well. She teaches trainees and other clinicians about this specialty field, and she is the director of the Journal Club for the Payne Whitney Women's Program and co-director of the WBHC Reproductive Psychiatry Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship. She believes in understanding symptoms in the context of a person's life circumstances, and she understands the importance of collaboration with other clinicians. She is empathic and uses an evidence-based approach to treatment that includes non-pharmacologic wellness strategies, psychotherapy, and/or medications to alleviate psychiatric distress, when appropriate. She also offers one-time reproductive psychiatry consultations related to pregnancy/postpartum, the menstrual cycle, and the perimenopausal period.

Care Philosophy: Dr. Seymour Kushnir received his Bachelor of Science from McGill University in 1971, and his Bachelor of Medical Sciences from Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada in 1973. He continued at Memorial University for his MD, which he completed in 1975 and then went on the complete his internship at the affiliated hospitals of Memorial University, in 1976. Dr. Kushnir then returned to McGill University for his residency in Psychiatry which he completed in 1982 and the Graduate Diploma in Psychiatry in 1983. Throughout his career Dr. Kushnir has been published in various medical journals and publications and has given many lectures and classes. He has been associate professor of Psychiatry at both McGill University and Mount Sinai Medical School. In 2019, Dr. Kushnir was appointed as Head of Psychiatry at Good Samaritan Hospital. He is a Fellow of both the American Psychiatric Association and the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada. Dr. Kushnir is licensed in New York and is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, New York Academy of Sciences, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Care Philosophy: Dr. Schwarcz is a Board Certified Psychiatrist and Medical Practitioner with a career spanning over 40 years. His expertise is psychopharmacology.

Biography: Dr. Apfeldorf received his M.D. and his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Yale University. He completed his psychiatry residency at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He completed his geropsychiatry fellowship at Cornell University Medical College and New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center Westchester Division. Dr. Apfeldorf is currently on faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine and he is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry. Dr. Apfeldorf is the Unit Chief for the Geriatric Psychiatry Inpatient Service, Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry. He maintains an outpatient and consulting practice in adult and geriatric psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital/ Payne Whitney Westchester. Please call 914 997- 5809 for appointments and scheduling.