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Hadi Estakhri, MD — or Dr. E as his patients know him — is a double board-certified, Harvard-trained psychiatrist practicing at Allied Psychiatry and Mental Health in Newport Beach, California.

With more than two decades of professional experience, Dr. E has vast proficiency in the mental health field. At Allied Psychiatry in Newport Beach, California, his expertise is in treating a wide range of psychiatric and addictive disorders in both adult and adolescents.

 

Dr. E completed his medical education at the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences and his first residency in psychiatry at Tehran Institute of Psychiatry. He was an attending psychiatrist in Iran for several years before relocating to the United States for his Post-Doc fellowship at Boston University Department of Biomedical Engineering. During his fellowship, he studied the role of genetic and environmental factors in mood disorders, schizophrenia, and addiction.

Dr. E then completed his second psychiatry residency at Harvard Medical School/Boston VA Healthcare system followed by his Addiction Psychiatry subspecialty training at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York. During his residency, he was trained at several well-regarded institutions including Mclean Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he received specialized education in psychopharmacology for depression, ADHD, and bipolar disorder, as well as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for treatment-resistant depression. With his extensive experience at VA Boston hospitals, he became an expert in treating PTSD. Furthermore, he received numerous academic awards throughout his residency training.

Dr. E holds a holistic view of human health and emphasizes collaboration with a patient's treatment team, including their therapist, primary care physician, and other involved specialists. He believes this is paramount to optimizing the quality of healthcare and, in turn, a better treatment outcome. 

Dr. E is one of only a few psychiatrists practicing in Orange County and Los Angele area, CA who is double board-certified in both General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. 

 

Alejandra Suzuki, MD, FAPA, is a double board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist and TMS specialist at Americas TMS Center in Irvine, California. Dr. Suzuki comes from Japanese lineage but was born and grew up in Argentina, so she had a unique multi-cultural upbringing. Not only can she speak fluent English, Spanish, and Japanese, as a result, as well as French, but her background gives her invaluable insight and empathy for patients of many ethnicities.

Dr. Suzuki graduated from medical school at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and took up a residency in ophthalmology, finding a particular interest in neuro-ophthalmology that took her to Japan to pursue research in the field. On her return, Dr. Suzuki enrolled in the University of Miami to research neuro-otology, but having awakened her passion for the human mind as well as the brain, she took a different career path with a residency in psychiatry at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Dr. Suzuki followed this with fellowship training in child psychiatry at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and received advanced training in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Suzuki uses TMS therapy as a safe treatment option for children as she’s seen the effects medication can have on young people. She is one of the first psychiatrists in the United States to specialize in using TMS for the developing brain.

Dr. Suzuki’s particular passion is the mind and brain development of children. When she was training for her fellowship at UCLA, she took a year-long elective in the autism clinic and pursued further research into autism at the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. She currently supervises and teaches child psychiatry fellows of the CHOC neuropsychiatric clinic at the University of California in Irvine. Dr. Suzuki is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Clinical TMS Society.

Dr. Suzuki’s approach to psychiatry is one of prevention wherever possible so that patients receive treatment at an early stage and thus recover more quickly, with fewer adverse effects, and she believes in collaborating with health care providers and integrating behavioral health and physical health. As defined by the IOM (Institute of Medicine), Dr. Suzuki provides care that is “respectful of, and responsive to, individual patient preferences, needs and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.”

Esther Kim, MD, is a board-eligible adult psychiatrist practicing at Adelpha Psychiatric Group in Pasadena, California. She has a diverse background in both music and psychiatry. 

Dr. Kim earned her BA in Music with a minor in Biology and Chemistry. She continued on to earn her MD from Wake Forest School of Medicine, where she conducted pivotal research on depression and anxiety management in patients with epilepsy, studying innovative mental health care models and screening tools for epilepsy patients. In addition, she also founded the Wake Forest Musical Outreach Program, organizing musical events and concerts for individuals in the community.

Dr. Kim completed her psychiatry residency at the UCLA-Resnick Neuropsychiatric Institute, where she also served as chief resident of the UCLA Consult-Liaison and Psychiatric Emergency Room Services. She is highly active and passionate about the intersection of music and psychiatry, participating in the Mindful Music series at UCLA and in musical storytelling research projects that highlight resilience and help reduce the stigma of mental illness.

Dr. Kim specializes in the treatment of mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders and has interests in women's mental health and reproductive psychiatry as well. She adopts an integrative approach to care, emphasizing the importance of mindfulness, exercise, diet, and lifestyle. In addition to her expertise in psychopharmacology, Dr. Kim is well-versed in several evidence-based psychotherapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and psychodynamic psychotherapy. She also has experience in neuromodulation, specifically transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Outside of her professional life, and as a classically trained violinist, Dr. Kim regularly enjoys playing and performing music with friends. Additionally, she is an avid yogi, enjoys cooking and baking, and is a dedicated dog mom, raising her spunky Pomeranian, Schumann (named after the composer Robert Schumann).

Rahael Gupta, MD, is a board-certified adult psychiatrist and board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist at Adelpha Psychiatric Group in Pasadena, California. 

Dr. Gupta earned her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University and her MS in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She went on to earn her MD from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, where she was awarded the Raymond W. Waggoner Award for distinguished performance in psychiatry.

Dr. Gupta completed adult psychiatry residency training and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at UCLA, serving as Program Chief Fellow and pursuing the Parent and Infant Mental Health Area of Distinction. During her fellowship, she became a certified facilitator of the Circle of Security International Early Intervention Program for Parents and Children (an attachment-based, reflective parenting program), facilitating groups for new mothers at UCLA’s Perinatal Intensive Outpatient Program. She received the 2024 UCLA Gertrude Rogers Greenblatt Award in Child Psychiatry, given to one fellow annually noted for their “deeply humane commitment to children and families requiring psychiatric care.”

Dr. Gupta has specialized training in psychopharmacology and psychotherapy for anxiety disorders, mood disorders, ADHD, eating disorders, and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. She has experience with a wide variety of therapeutic techniques, including cognitive behavioral therapy, family-focused therapy, exposure and response prevention, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and executive function coaching. She is committed to a holistic and trauma-informed approach to care.

Maya Smolarek, MD, is a board-certified adult psychiatrist at Adelpha Psychiatric Group in Pasadena, California. 

Dr. Smolarek graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley with a degree in Religious Studies. Although she pursued medical training to enter end-of-life care, she could not escape the allure of focusing on internal experience, meaning, and personal narrative in the specialty of Psychiatry. 

Dr. Smolarek graduated from UCLA medical school with a leadership award and induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society for her merits in compassionate care. During Psychiatry Residency at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, she and a colleague co-founded the Women in Psychiatry group to further the education of trainees on issues related to women. She developed curricula for medical students and residents on sexual harassment during training and delivered talks on the subject at two national conventions. She served as Volunteer Clinical Faculty member at UCLA , teaching in the Interpersonal Therapy Clinic. 

Dr. Smolarek is experienced in treating the gamut of mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. She has specialty training in reproductive psychiatry (pertaining to menstrual, menopausal, and peripartum issues), geriatric psychiatry, PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, and bipolar disorder. She brings a background study of mysticism and Buddhism to her psychodynamic psychotherapy. Her holistic approach to care also includes an interest in affect-oriented and somatic therapy. LGBTQ+ affirming. 

Joan Striebel, MD, is a board-certified adult psychiatrist at Adelpha Psychiatric Group in Pasadena, California.

Before deciding to pursue medicine, Dr. Striebel taught in elementary schools, and her love of teaching has been a theme throughout her career. She attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society.  After completing her residency at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Addiction Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, she spent ten years working in forensic settings, caring for patients with serious mental illness, providing psychopharmacology consultations, and teaching psychiatry residents and fellows. 

Dr. Striebel has specialized expertise in treating psychosis and implementing clozapine and in treating substance use disorders, particularly opioid use disorder. She completed a visiting fellowship in ECT, has served as an expert witness on ECT, and has written several book chapters related to mental illness and addiction. Her interests also include how physical, mental, and social health are interwoven and interdependent. 

She is a voluntary Clinical Assistant Professor and a teaching attending at the UCLA Psychosis Clinic. The UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences honored her with the award for Outstanding Volunteer Clinical Faculty Teaching 2024-2025.

Elizabeth Casalegno, MD, is a board-certified adult psychiatrist at Adelpha Psychiatric Group in Pasadena, California. 

Dr. Casalegno graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, San Diego, with a degree in biochemistry and cell biology. While at UCSD, she also studied abroad in the Bordeaux region of France, immersing herself in French culture and language. Later, she pursued her medical studies at the University of California, Davis. She ran a student-run clinic for low-income and minority patients and became an Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society member. 

Her interest in human behavior led her to complete her psychiatry residency training at UCLA, where she served as the chief resident of the whole training program.  

Dr. Casalegno specializes in treating various disorders with a careful selection of psychotropic medications in combination with individual psychotherapy and other interventional treatments such as TMS. She is also interested in reproductive psychiatry, psychotic disorders, and applying psychodynamically-informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to treat mood and anxiety disorders, including OCD, aggressively.

Dr. Casalegno is a former member of the Volunteer Clinical Faculty at UCLA, where she was an attending physician in the Psychosis Clinic and the Resident Psychotherapy Clinic. She is also a UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty Association (PCFA) board member.

Jennifer Hichar is a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner trained to treat mental health disorders in patients of all ages. Her clinical training at Yale School of Nursing took place in both inpatient and outpatient settings with pediatric, adult, and geriatric populations. Jennifer is dedicated to providing patient-centered, evidence-based care within a holistic biopsychosocial approach to treatment.

Dr. Navarro, is an associate UCLA professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He is double board certified in treating children and teens, as well as adult psychiatry. Dr. Navarro is an expert on ADHD, depression and anxiety. He is passionate about treating the whole person in an integrative and preventative way. Dr. Navarro completed his undergraduate degree in Biological Psychology at UCLA. He worked as a public health educator in the South Bay serving over 800 middle school children for two years prior to pursuing medical training. He received his medical degree from UC Irvine College of Medicine and graduated with Honors in Service as an inductee into the Gold Humanistic Honor Society. Dr. Navarro did his internship, residency and child/adolescent fellowship at UCLA becoming Chief Fellow his final year of training. Dr. Navarro is an international and national lecturer on child and adolescent mental health.

Salisu Aikoye, MD, is a board-certified adult and addiction psychiatrist. At Sal Psychiatry Services, located in Norwalk, California, they adhere to strict controlled substance protocol. Dr. Salisu attended medical school at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and completed his psychiatry residency at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in Nigeria. Dr. Salisu then completed a psychiatry residency at Central Michigan University, Saginaw, and completed his addiction psychiatry fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles/VA. Dr. Salisu also obtained a master’s in public health at the University of Southern California with a special interest in global mental health. He is a passionate and well-rounded psychiatrist known for his excellent listening skills, knowledge of psychiatry/dual diagnoses, and ability to work well with diverse patient populations. Dr. Salisu promotes evidence-based biological treatments with an emphasis on the role of psychotherapy in mental health care.