Mind and Brain

The “psych-” in psychiatry refers to the mind or soul; “-iatry” means healing. Psychiatry, at its best, concerns both brain and mind.

Modern medicine has made remarkable advances in understanding the biological dimensions of mental illness. The brain and body possess their own depth and complexity, and careful attention to biology can be essential to healing.

At the same time, biology does not exhaust the meaning of mental suffering. The mind—shaped by experience, relationships, conflict, memory, and imagination—cannot be fully explained by neurochemistry alone. A treatment that attends only to biological processes may leave the psychological dimension unexplored.

Even psychotherapy, at times, can risk assuming too much understanding too quickly—focusing on symptom management without fully engaging the deeper structures of inner life.

The old wisdom mens sana in corpore sano—a healthy mind in a healthy body—remains true. Brain and body health matter deeply. So does the careful exploration of the mind in its uniqueness and depth.

In my work, I aim to hold both realities together. I attend to biological health with seriousness, while keeping the mind central—the unique person whose inner world gives context and meaning to symptoms.