Brenda Camacho, MD

Dr. Kristen Clark earned her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and completed her psychiatry residency at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson. She has extensive experience practicing primarily in outpatient settings, along with additional experience in inpatient, consultation, and emergency psychiatry. Dr. Clark has also served in academic roles, teaching and mentoring trainees in both medical school and residency. She is board-certified in Psychiatry and in Addiction Medicine.

Dr. Clark prioritizes creating a welcoming environment where patients feel comfortable sharing their experiences. She values building strong rapport and approaches care holistically, recognizing that each patient is unique and deserves an individualized treatment plan. She appreciates the ongoing nature of outpatient care and adapts her approach as patients’ goals and priorities evolve over time.

Dr. Clark takes a collaborative approach to treatment, working closely with patients to ensure their understanding of all available options. She empowers patients to make informed choices and partners with them to develop plans that best align with their needs, values, and goals for treatment.

‍

Surya Sabhapathy, MD, MPH is a board-certified adult psychiatrist based in Chicago, IL. They earned their medical and public health degrees from the University of Michigan, then completed residency training at the University of Illinois - Chicago. They served on the UIC faculty as an attending psychiatrist for several years before joining Talkiatry.  

Dr. Sabhapathy is an experienced general psychiatrist specializing in LGBTQ+ and women's mental health. They previously directed UIC's psychiatric Gender and Sexuality Clinic, providing LGBTQ+ affirming care with an emphasis on support for gender-expansive patients. They have contributed to the National Curriculum on Reproductive Psychiatry, and continue to manage mental health issues during pregnancy and postpartum. Their other clinical interests include PTSD, ADHD, co-occurring medical conditions, and culturally sensitive care.  

Dr. Sabhapathy values warmth, curiosity, and shared decision-making. Initial sessions focus on comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and understanding individual goals. From there, Dr. Sabhapathy works with patients to develop treatment plans that may combine medication management, supportive therapy, and positive lifestyle changes

Dr. Steven Wilkening is a board-certified adult psychiatrist.He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Cornell University followed by a neuroscience researchfocused Masters degree at the University of Mississippi. He then attended medical school at theUniversity of Mississippi School of Medicine, graduating with his MD degree as a Medical StudentResearch Scholar and member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed adultpsychiatry residency training at the University of Cincinnati and has since been working primarily intelepsychiatry.He has experience treating a wide variety of psychiatric conditions and also recognizes that lifestylefactors such as sleep, physical activity and stress-reduction are foundations of good mental health.Alongside medication management, he provides brief supportive psychotherapy, psychoeducation, aswell as elements of cognitive behavioral and solution-focused therapies to assist patients in meetingtheir goals. He often encourages patients to see a therapist in addition to a psychiatrist.

Dr. Stuart Hedgpeth is a board-certified psychiatrist. While Dr. Hedgpeth primarily focuses on medication management, he understands that mental health often requires approaches from multiple perspectives. Psychodynamic and supportive therapies are offered on an as-needed basis in addition to medication management. New patients are provided 60 minutes for initial visits, and follow-ups are given 30 minutes. Dr. Hedgpeth graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, NC. He completed his adult psychiatry residency training at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond, VA. Dr. Hedgpeth's training has positioned him to care for adults of all ages with a wide spectrum of mental health disorders and related conditions. In his residency he sought out additional experience working with patients undergoing treatment for HIV, patients with trauma-related disorders, and the LGBTQ+ population.

Dr. Faizan Syed is a board-certified attending psychiatrist who graduated from St. George's University School of Medicine in 2012. He completed his residency in adult psychiatry at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, an affiliate of Columbia University, in June 2016 .Dr. Syed was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and has lived transnationally in the United States, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East throughout his life. He is currently based in Queens, NY, and alongside his professional development in his career as a psychiatrist, he has also worked to develop himself personally through writing. As a poet, essayist, and author, he has been published numerous times, and he maintains connections with his community through his participation in a group known as the Queens Poetic Alchemy Collective. He has spoken out publicly against the cultural stigma against mental health that has become a barrier to seeking and finding help. He has also been featured on Humans of New York. Dr. Syed believes strongly in the power and importance of psychotherapy as part of the therapeutic process. As such, he integrates individualized psychotherapy for each patient he sees and tailors various techniques to suit each patient's needs. He believes in an integrative, holistic approach that borrows from and blends various schools of psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience, including mindfulness, existentialism, cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical therapy, psychodynamics, genetics, and psychopharmacology. In addition, he is a great believer in the therapeutic power of the arts, whether it is visual arts, music, bibliotherapy, or expressive writing. Dr. Syed focuses on exploring the role of meaning in every patient's life so they can define and fulfill their potential in many areas of life. He has experience working with patients of all ages who have struggled with trauma, relationship or attachment issues, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, psychosis, and personality disorders.

Dr. Danielle Gelfond is an Adult Psychiatrist and a graduate from Loyola University Medical Center's residency program in Chicago, IL. Prior to attending residency, Dr. Gelfond graduated from Rush Medical College at Rush University. Throughout residency, Dr. Gelfond spent time focusing on her clinical interests which include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and women's mental health. During her training, Dr. Gelfond spent several years working with the Perinatal population and completed a year-long program focusing on Women's Mental Health through the National Curriculum in Reproductive Psychiatry organization. She held the role of Chief Resident of her program during the last two years of her training and received several awards commending her leadership style and rapport with patients through her program. Dr. Gelfond takes on a holistic and "patient-centered" approach in her treatment style. She incorporates both medication management, supportive psychotherapy, and discussions surrounding lifestyle and wellness into her appointments and emphasizes patient education and autonomy, which she believes helps support the therapeutic relationship, improve clinical outcomes, and helps treatment align with the patient's goals of care.