Everyone has a story to tell.<\/h2><\/div>That’s what I’ve learned in over two decades of psychiatric practice. And sometimes, the story matters more than the symptoms\u2026<\/p>\n
I knew I wanted to be a doctor for as long as I could remember, so it was a natural thing to go to medical school. I thought I wanted to be a surgeon because it seemed like such a clear, obvious way of helping people. You’re literally fixing their problem. The concrete impact on people really appealed to me.<\/p>\n
One problem: When I got to medical school, I quickly realized that surgeons don’t really talk to their patients. They get in and out, do their thing and move on to the next case. I knew immediately that wasn’t going to work for me.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/span>Hi, I’m Dr. Lisa Berman<\/h2><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>I took a longer path to psychiatry than some, but each detour provided a key to where I would eventually end up.<\/p>\n
After ruling out surgery, I moved on to Internal Medicine, but that didn’t feel like the right fit either. People came in with diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic conditions that should have been manageable, but they weren’t getting better. Often because they weren’t taking their medications.<\/p>\n
I was always running behind on clinic day because a 15-minute appointment would easily turn into 30 or 40 minutes. I needed to understand their stories. Why did they not want to take the medication that would treat their condition? Every patient has a story, and I wanted to listen to them all. I was already practicing psychiatry, I just hadn\u2019t quite realized it yet.<\/p>\n
So after my internship year, I switched into a Psychiatry residency and never looked back. It was a perfect fit because I wanted to listen to people\u2019s stories, and they wanted to tell me their stories.<\/p>\n
During residency, I felt fulfilled in a way I hadn’t experienced before. There’s something profound about being invited into someone’s inner world in this very intimate way, into the parts of themselves they often don’t show anyone else. It’s an honor to be trusted the way people trust me. I still feel that every single day.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Lisa](\"https:\/\/imhs.nyc\/staging\/6569\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/lisa_berman_md.jpg\" "\\"lisa_berman_md\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>I then pursued psychoanalytic training at Columbia<\/a> which was six years of intensive study that gave me a deeper understanding of how people\u2019s minds work so I could help them live the life they wanted and understand their self-defeating patterns.<\/p>\nThat training was almost the opposite of medication management in some ways because it focused entirely on long-term therapy and uncovering unconscious thoughts and patterns. But I wanted that depth. I wanted to understand people at the deepest level.<\/p>\n
What I discovered through all this training is something that guides my practice today:<\/p>\n
You have to put out the fire before you can look at the wiring.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen someone is drowning in depressio<\/a>n or paralyzed by panic attacks<\/a>, they can’t engage meaningfully in therapy. The medications we prescribe put out the fire. They create the stability people need to do the deeper work of healing. Medication is a concrete, effective intervention that helps people feel better, quickly.<\/p>\nAnd I wanted to help as many people as I could to feel better\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nSo, I started Inspire.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
That’s what I’ve learned in over two decades of psychiatric practice. And sometimes, the story matters more than the symptoms\u2026<\/p>\n
I knew I wanted to be a doctor for as long as I could remember, so it was a natural thing to go to medical school. I thought I wanted to be a surgeon because it seemed like such a clear, obvious way of helping people. You’re literally fixing their problem. The concrete impact on people really appealed to me.<\/p>\n
One problem: When I got to medical school, I quickly realized that surgeons don’t really talk to their patients. They get in and out, do their thing and move on to the next case. I knew immediately that wasn’t going to work for me.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
Hi, I’m Dr. Lisa Berman<\/h2><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>I took a longer path to psychiatry than some, but each detour provided a key to where I would eventually end up.<\/p>\n
After ruling out surgery, I moved on to Internal Medicine, but that didn’t feel like the right fit either. People came in with diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic conditions that should have been manageable, but they weren’t getting better. Often because they weren’t taking their medications.<\/p>\n
I was always running behind on clinic day because a 15-minute appointment would easily turn into 30 or 40 minutes. I needed to understand their stories. Why did they not want to take the medication that would treat their condition? Every patient has a story, and I wanted to listen to them all. I was already practicing psychiatry, I just hadn\u2019t quite realized it yet.<\/p>\n
So after my internship year, I switched into a Psychiatry residency and never looked back. It was a perfect fit because I wanted to listen to people\u2019s stories, and they wanted to tell me their stories.<\/p>\n
During residency, I felt fulfilled in a way I hadn’t experienced before. There’s something profound about being invited into someone’s inner world in this very intimate way, into the parts of themselves they often don’t show anyone else. It’s an honor to be trusted the way people trust me. I still feel that every single day.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>I then pursued psychoanalytic training at Columbia<\/a> which was six years of intensive study that gave me a deeper understanding of how people\u2019s minds work so I could help them live the life they wanted and understand their self-defeating patterns.<\/p>\nThat training was almost the opposite of medication management in some ways because it focused entirely on long-term therapy and uncovering unconscious thoughts and patterns. But I wanted that depth. I wanted to understand people at the deepest level.<\/p>\n
What I discovered through all this training is something that guides my practice today:<\/p>\n
You have to put out the fire before you can look at the wiring.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen someone is drowning in depressio<\/a>n or paralyzed by panic attacks<\/a>, they can’t engage meaningfully in therapy. The medications we prescribe put out the fire. They create the stability people need to do the deeper work of healing. Medication is a concrete, effective intervention that helps people feel better, quickly.<\/p>\nAnd I wanted to help as many people as I could to feel better\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nSo, I started Inspire.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
I took a longer path to psychiatry than some, but each detour provided a key to where I would eventually end up.<\/p>\n
After ruling out surgery, I moved on to Internal Medicine, but that didn’t feel like the right fit either. People came in with diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic conditions that should have been manageable, but they weren’t getting better. Often because they weren’t taking their medications.<\/p>\n
I was always running behind on clinic day because a 15-minute appointment would easily turn into 30 or 40 minutes. I needed to understand their stories. Why did they not want to take the medication that would treat their condition? Every patient has a story, and I wanted to listen to them all. I was already practicing psychiatry, I just hadn\u2019t quite realized it yet.<\/p>\n
So after my internship year, I switched into a Psychiatry residency and never looked back. It was a perfect fit because I wanted to listen to people\u2019s stories, and they wanted to tell me their stories.<\/p>\n
During residency, I felt fulfilled in a way I hadn’t experienced before. There’s something profound about being invited into someone’s inner world in this very intimate way, into the parts of themselves they often don’t show anyone else. It’s an honor to be trusted the way people trust me. I still feel that every single day.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>I then pursued psychoanalytic training at Columbia<\/a> which was six years of intensive study that gave me a deeper understanding of how people\u2019s minds work so I could help them live the life they wanted and understand their self-defeating patterns.<\/p>\n That training was almost the opposite of medication management in some ways because it focused entirely on long-term therapy and uncovering unconscious thoughts and patterns. But I wanted that depth. I wanted to understand people at the deepest level.<\/p>\n What I discovered through all this training is something that guides my practice today:<\/p>\n You have to put out the fire before you can look at the wiring.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When someone is drowning in depressio<\/a>n or paralyzed by panic attacks<\/a>, they can’t engage meaningfully in therapy. The medications we prescribe put out the fire. They create the stability people need to do the deeper work of healing. Medication is a concrete, effective intervention that helps people feel better, quickly.<\/p>\n And I wanted to help as many people as I could to feel better\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n So, I started Inspire.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Reach](\"https:\/\/imhs.nyc\/staging\/6569\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/reach_out.png\" "\\"reach_out\\"")
<\/span><\/div>![\"Check](\"https:\/\/imhs.nyc\/staging\/6569\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/check_connect.png\" "\\"check_connect\\"")
<\/span><\/div>![\"Feel](\"https:\/\/imhs.nyc\/staging\/6569\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/feel_better.png\" "\\"feel_better\\"")
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