David J. Hellerstein, M.D., is a research psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He is Director of the Depression Evaluation Service (DES), which conducts studies on the medication and psychotherapy treatment of conditions including major depression, chronic depression, and bipolar disorder. Since 2019, the DES has taken a leadership role in conducting studies of psychedelic medications including psilocybin for depression and other disorders.

Dr. Hellerstein specializes in research and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, particularly the medication treatment of chronic depression. His current studies include psilocybin in treatment-resistant depression, telepsychiatry treatment for women with depression and breast cancer, bone health in post-menopausal women receiving treatment for depression, and the use of esmethadone for major depression.

He has published over 150 scientific articles and book chapters on subjects including psychedelic drugs for treatment of psychiatric disorders; the treatment of persistent depressive disorder, bipolar depression, as well as supportive psychotherapy, behavioral activation therapy; and the humanities and medicine, particularly ‘narrative medicine.’ His neuroimaging research has been published in JAMA Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, and other top journals.

Dr. Hellerstein has also received wide recognition for his literary writing. His new book The Couch, the Clinic, and the Scanner: Stories from Three Revolutionary Eras of the Mind is published by Columbia University Press. His journalism has been published in magazines including Harper’s and The New York Times Magazine. He writes a blog about applying neuroscience principals to psychiatric treatment for Psychologytoday.com: at Heal Your Brain(link is external and opens in a new window).

His previous book, Heal Your Brain: How the New Neuropsychiatry Can Help You Go From Better to Well(link is external and opens in a new window), was published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. A Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, he has served as President of the New York County District Branch of the American Psychiatric Association.