ROBERT J. HEDAYA, MD, ABPN, DLFAPA, IFMCP, is a caring compassionate doctor who is devoted to restoring each of his patients to health. He gets to know each patient thoroughly – psychologically and medically. Dr. Hedaya has been at the cutting edge of medical practice, psychiatry, and psychopharmacology since 1979. He has decades of clinical training and experience, is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a Distinguished Fellow of American Psychiatric Association, and is certified as proficient in psychopharmacology by The American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Dr. Hedaya acquired specialized training in psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health.
Clinician and Professor
Dr. Hedaya is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center, where has been awarded the “Teacher of the Year” while teaching courses on Affective Disorders, Cognitive Therapy and PNIE (Psycho-neuro-Immuno-endocrinology).
Dr. Hedaya teaches Functional Medicine both locally and nationally. He teaches physicians regularly at the Institute for Functional Medicine, The Walsh Research Institute, Georgetown University School of Medicine, as well as local physicians. He teaches about Mood disorders, PTSD, Precision Medicine, Genetics, Methylation, Functional Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, Infectious Medicine and Toxicology, as applied to Neuropsychiatric disorders.
Dr. Hedaya is a faculty member and master clinician at the Institute for Functional Medicine.
Visionary Thinker and Author
With the publication of his first book, Understanding Biological Psychiatry, he pioneered the use of Functional Medicine in the psychiatric field. In it, he explains how the brain works and how brain function relates to physical symptoms and cognitive and emotional well-being.
His second book, The Anti-depressant Survival Program, Dr. Hedaya notes that there is a dark side to these “wonder drugs” — punishing side effects such as weight gain, lethargy, and sexual dysfunction that afflict up to 80 percent of the people who take them. Until now, side effects sufferers have had nowhere to turn for help. All too often their doctors dismiss side effects as “necessary evils” and urge patients to “learn to live with them.” Beginning with a Five-Day Jump Start that motivates and shows quick results, Dr. Hedaya takes you to step by step through his lifestyle program for restoring lost vitality, sex drive and desired weight. Then he offers results-oriented advice about how to work with your doctor to supplement vital hormones, vitamins, and micronutrients that are often depleted by antidepressants. There are also special sections written expressly for your doctor.
In Depression: Advancing the Treatment Paradigm, written for professionals, Dr. Hedaya details the nature of depression as a complex, multifactorial condition that is co-morbid with many chronic diseases, demanding a new approach that identifies and addresses the common underlying metabolic dysregulations. He bridges the gap between current and best practice by presenting a comprehensive, systems-oriented approach to solving the problem of depression.
Dr. Hedaya never stops learning. He wants his patients to benefit from the latest research and approaches. He presents his research at professional conferences. In addition to his private practice, he teaches fellow physicians, medical students, and other healthcare clinicians.
Because he is known in his profession as a thinking man’s doctor who’s learned in the latest medical technologies and methodologies, Dr. Hedaya has treated many fellow physicians in his practice.
Medical Approach
Dr. Robert Hedaya evaluates each patient focusing on the detailed evaluation and bi-directional interactions between and among their:
- hormonal system
- immune system
- gastrointestinal system
- nutrition
- environment
- inflammation
- infection
- genetics
- detoxification
- cell signaling
- life circumstance
- age
- gender
Current interest:
The continued development and clinical testing of a technology that is strikingly efficacious in partially or completely reversing primary progressive aphasia, improving Parkinson’s symptoms, reversing acquired prosopagnosia, and effectively reversing treatment-resistant depression, and other select severe psychiatric conditions. We are in the process of obtaining baseline objective data to document the changes that stem from the treatment, with the aim, should the data support it, of taking the next steps to obtain an IRB.
Current Professional Status
- Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University (1983-present)
- Faculty, Institute for Functional Medicine
- Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
- Founder and Medical Director, The Whole Psychiatry & Brain Recovery Center
- Certified Practitioner, Institute for Functional Medicine (IFMCP)
Education and Training
- A. Psychology, Cum Laude, SUNY Buffalo (1974)
- D., SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine (1979)
Post-Graduate
- Internship: Georgetown University Hospital, Psychiatry (1979-1980)
- Residency: Georgetown University Hospital, Psychiatry (1980-1983)
- Special Fellowship: National Institute of Mental Health (1982-1983)
Certification and Licensure
- Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (1984-present)
- American Board of Adolescent Psychiatry (1993-2006)
- American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (1998-2008)
- Certified Practitioner, Institute for Functional Medicine (2013)
- Medical Licenses: Maryland, New Jersey, and Florida
Academic Appointments
- Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical Center (1983-present)
- Faculty, Institute for Functional Medicine (2009-present)
- Consultant, National Institute of Mental Health
Current and Previous Society Affiliations
- American Psychiatric Association
- American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacologists
- The Endocrine Society
- Washington Psychiatric Society
- American Group Psychotherapy Association
- American Medical Association
- American Pain Society
- Maryland Chirurgical Society
- Metropolitan Washington Society for Adolescent Psychiatry
- The Mid-Atlantic Environmental Medicine Network
- Suburban Maryland Psychiatric Society
Committees and Boards
- Membership Committee, Metropolitan Washington Society for Adolescent psychiatry 1983-1984
- Renal Transplantation Committee, Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring Maryland: 1986
- Electroconvulsive Therapy Committee, Holy Cross Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, 1986, 1987
- Honorary Chairman, National Republican Congressional Committee
- Physician’s Advisory Board-11/02-10/03
- Liaison with Federal Health Agencies Committee, extended committee member;
- American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacologists, 1994
- Solvay Pharmaceuticals Advisory Board Member-1998
- Pastoral Counseling Institute, Washington D.C. Board Member, 1996- 2003
- American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology- Public Information and Relationship
- With Non-Professional Publications Committee-1996-1998
- Board Member, Suburban Maryland Psychiatric Society, 2007
- Institute for Functional Medicine, Expert Committee for the 16th International Symposium on Mood Disorders, May 2009 – Team Leader, Institute for Functional Medicine – Clinical Practice Guidelines Development: Autoimmune Disorders: Section on Stress: 2016
- Advisory Board: MethylGenetic Nutrition Analysis Sept 2016-2018
- Washington Psychiatric Society Continuing Education Committee-2019-2020
Honors and Awards:
- Phi Beta Kappa: S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo, 1974
- A., Cum Laude: S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo, 1974
- Pediatrics Honors Award: S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo School of Medicine, 1976
- Physicians Recognition Award: American Medical Association, 1983-1996
- Outstanding Teacher Award: Georgetown University Department of Psychiatry, 1993,1997, 1999
- Clinician of the Month: Functional Medicine Update: February 1997
- Community Service Award: Washington Psychiatric Society, 1997
- Clinician of the Month: Audio Interview for Functional Medicine Update, March 1997
- Historical Society’s Who’s Who Recipient: International Who’s Who of Professionals, 2002
- Master Clinician, Institute for Functional Medicine, May 2009
Major Publications
Books
- Understanding Biological Psychiatry (Norton Publishing Company, 1996)
- The Antidepressant Survival Program (Crown Publishers, 2000)
- The Antidepressant Survival Guide (2001)
- Depression: Advancing the Treatment Paradigm (IFM, 2008)
Book Chapters
- Stress, Spirituality, Poverty and Community (Textbook of Functional Medicine, 2006)
- Nutrition and Mental Health (Integrative Nutrition Therapy, 2015)
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Pharmacokinetic Factors in Clinical Use of L-Tryptophan (J. Clinical Psychopharmacology, 1984)
- The Womanizer (J. Human Sexuality, 1985)
- Carcinoid Carcinomatous Meningitis (Annals of Internal Medicine, 1985)
- Seasonal Depression in Patients with Dissociative Disorders (J. Nervous and Mental Disease, 1996)
- Depression: Advancing the Treatment Paradigm (IFM Monograph, 2008)
- Addiction, Pain and Inflammation (SereneScene Magazine, 2016)
- A Combination of 5 Herbs Plus Thiamine Reduces Pain (Altern. Ther. Health Med., 2017)
- The Semmelweis Reflex, Medical Bilingualism and Dementia (J. Alzheimer’s Disease, 2018)
- How Precision Psychiatry Helped My Patient (Currents Psychiatry, 2018)
- Autoimmunity: Guide for Functional Medicine Practitioners (IFM, 2019) in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic
- Reversal of Acquired Prosopagnosia using qEEG-Guided Laser Therapy (2022)
- Advancing Neuropsychiatric Practice with qEEG (Alternative Therapies, 2023)
- Utility of Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone in Clinical Practice: A Retrospective – Analysis of Thirty Cases: Hedaya, R.J; (Manuscript in preparation).
Georgetown Teaching Activities
- Affective Disorders Program-25 years
- Cognitive Therapy Seminar-10 years
- Psycho-neuro-immuno-endocrinology (PNIE)-10 years
- Clinical supervision of residents-15 years
Institute for Functional Medicine
- Faculty member and Master Clinician
- Course development in mood disorders
- Advanced practice workshops
- Presentation at multiple annual conferences
- Certification program instruction
Professional Presentations
- Approximately 200 professional presentations nationally
- Several national and local media appearances (CNN, 20/20, MSNBC, Today Show, Fox TV)
Print/Digital
- Psychology Today (Regular Contributor)
- The New York Times
- Washington Post
- Vogue
Research Interests
- Treatment-resistant neuropsychiatric disorders
- Brain recovery and rehabilitation, including reversal of mild cognitive impairment, early dementia, and aphasia, stabilization and improvement of Parkinson’s symptoms and some movement disorders, and reversal of acquired prosopagnosia
- Functional Medicine as it applies to psychiatry and select neuropsychiatric disorders
- HYLANE technology for neuropsychiatric disorders
- qEEG-guided treatment protocols
- Psycho-neuro-immuno-endocrinology
- Treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions
- Impact of Ketamine on qEEG parameters (data collected, and manuscript in preparation)
Professional Society Memberships
- American Psychiatric Association
- The Endocrine Society
- Washington Psychiatric Society
- Institute for Functional Medicine
- American Medical Association
- American Pain Society
- Maryland Chirurgical Society
- Metropolitan Washington Society for Adolescent Psychiatry
Speaking Engagements
Over 250 national and international presentations (1976-2023), including keynote addresses, grand rounds, workshops, and media appearances at major medical institutions, conferences, and broadcast networks.
Citations:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/robert-j-hedaya-md-dlfapa-abpn-cfm
https://drhrejoint.com/pages/about-dr-hedaya
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-robert-hedaya-84422379
https://www.shrinkrapradio.com/348.pdf
https://www.mindhealth360.com/podcast/combining-functional-medicine-with-novel-brain-therapies/
https://www.shrinkrapradio.com/260.pdf
https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/contributors/robert-hedaya/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYhoQ7LYQOo
https://wholepsychiatry.com/member/dr-robert-hedaya/
https://www.ifm.org/educator/robert-hedaya
https://www.yelp.com/biz/whole-psychiatry-eatontown
http://imjournal.com/openaccess/hedaya126.pdf
https://crownheights.info/something-jewish/722077/whole-psychiatry-healthy-mind-healthy-body/
https://wholepsychiatry.com/category/interviews-with-dr-hedaya/
https://wholepsychiatry.com/whole-psychiatry-healthy-mind-healthy-body/
https://www.instagram.com/mindhealth360/reel/Cy3jKM5sT9x/
https://drhedberg.com/overcoming-ptsd-robert-hedaya/
https://evolvingpast.com/podcast/can-really-reverse-alzheimers-cognition-problems-robert-hedaya-md/
https://cihealth.org/2023-1-30-podcast-episode-template-a6pgp-wr669/
https://www.webmd.com/bio/robert-j-hedaya
http://consultqdlive.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/0_lmy1q41p/96935451
https://health.usnews.com/doctors/robert-hedaya-505952
https://wholepsychiatry.com/category/interviews-with-dr-hedaya/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnycdnDGNLY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnuuoNrDFAQ