There is a significant mental health care epidemic going on that has only been worsened in the past few years with the COVID pandemic. Rates of anxiety and depression are sky high, not just for adults, but for adolescents and teens as well. Our current approach to mental health care places the burden of care upon Psychiatrists and therapists and the truth is there just aren’t enough people to meet the incredible demand out there.

When Psychiatrists or other mental health care professionals are seeing patients, there are often not able to do so in a holistic and collaborative way - an approach that will ultimately benefit the patient more. This type of a model with better access to care is so necessary and the topic of my discussion today with Dr. Hani Talebi.

We discuss:

• His story and journey into the world of mental health.
• The growing epidemic of mental health problems and what factors may be contributing to it.
• What our current models in Psychiatry and Psychology get right when treating depression/anxiety and where they fall short.
• How a more holistic model of care that incorporates physical medicine with mental health can improve our treatment of it.
• Social media - a force for good or increasing our mental health problems?
• Thoughts on the huge amounts of money being poured into mental health funding and what impact it's having.

Guest Bio:

Dr. Hani Talebi is a licensed psychologist and specialist in school psychology with focused experience in pediatric psychology. Dr.Talebi is an affiliate faculty member in the UT Austin Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a courtesy affiliate faculty member in the UT Austin Department of Pediatrics and the UT Austin Department of Educational Psychology. In his role as Senior Vice President of Health Systems Integration, Dr. Talebi’s work focuses on advancing collaborative care and measurement-based care in primary care and health system settings.

With more than 20 years of clinical experience, he has served in a variety of roles including Director of Pediatric Psychology at Dell Children’s Medical Center, Director of Psychological Services at Del Valle Independent School District, Director of Clinical Programming in various community mental health centers, and as a clinical/consultative leader in the private sector. Dr.Talebi’s administrative efforts at the juncture of the medical and mental health models have resulted in innovative program development, various quality improvement initiatives and fiscally sustainable service provision platforms across milieus.

Connect with Dr. Talebi

Website: ​​https://mmhpi.org/

Connect with Dr. Akhter

Website: www.madinamedicine.com

Email: info@madinamedicine.com

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