About Dr. Robert J. Hedaya

Home » About Us » About Dr. Hedaya

Robert J. Hedaya, M.D., D.F.A.P.A., is a diversely trained and experienced psychiatrist who has been board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, the American Board of Adolescent Psychiatry, and certified as proficient in psychopharmacology by The American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. He has been recognized as a Master Clinician in functional medicine by the Institute for Functional Medicine. He trained under the auspices of some of the most renowned students of Goodwin, Beck, and Bowen, who are recognized leaders in today's psychiatric community. Dr. Hedaya obtained both a B.A. in Psychology (1974) Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and his Medical Degree (1979) at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Following his degree studies, Dr. Hedaya acquired specialized training in psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, with additional training in biological psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health. After his entrance into private practice in 1983, he engaged in five years of supervision in Family Systems Theory, as well as training in Integrative Hypnotherapy. He then went on to advanced training in endocrinology, functional medicine, and orthomolecular psychiatry.

Since 1983, Dr. Hedaya has combined an active clinical practice with teaching as a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Georgetown University Medical Center. He has been a consultant to the National Institute of Mental Health. In 2001 Dr. Hedaya was selected to teach the first psychoendocrinology course at Georgetown University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Hedaya routinely teaches Basic and Advanced Cognitive Therapy classes and conducts an annual Affective Disorders program for Psychiatrists-In Training at Georgetown.

Dr. Hedaya's whole psychiatry approach to the evaluation and treatment of the major psychiatric disorders, focuses on the evaluation and bi-directional interactions between thinking/perception, environment, hormones, nutrition, immune, and the gastrointestinal systems and the treatments that are a logical result. It encompasses the findings from diverse fields including, but not limited to, psychology, sociology, endocrinology, orthomolecular psychiatry, environmental medicine, gastroenterology, functional medicine and immunology as they relate to psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Hedaya has found that whole psychiatry offers very significant improvements in outcome, as well as the possibility in some cases of avoiding or reducing medication.

Dr. Hedaya is the author of Understanding Biological Psychiatry (Norton, 1996). He is also the author of, The Antidepressant Survival Program: How to Beat the Side Effects and Enhance the Benefits of Your Medication (Crown-Harmony, 2000), and Depression: Advancing the Treatment Paradigm (2008, the Institute for Functional Medicine).

He has presented at medical and professional conferences across the country. He does Webinars and Workshops by Phone for both medical and mental health professionals as well as lay people around the country. He has frequently been an expert consultant on Fox TV as well as appearing on the Today Show, CBS Evening News, 20/20, MSNBC, and CNN.

Dr. Hedaya had received the Physician's Recognition Award from the American Medical Association each year from 1983 through 1996. In June of 1993, 1997 and 1999, he was voted Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Georgetown University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Hedaya was accepted as an active member of the Endocrine Society in 2002.

Current Professional Status

Founder, The National Center for Whole Psychiatry
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University, Department of Psychiatry
Distinguished Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
Active Member, The Endocrine Society
Washington Psychiatric Society
Suburban Maryland Psychiatric Society

Previous Society Affiliations:

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

Certification and Licensure

The Endocrine Society, Active Member
Fellow American Psychiatric Association
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
American Board of Adolescent Psychiatry
The American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Inc.
Licensed in the State of Maryland as Physician
Licensed in the District of Columbia
Licensed in the State of New York

Honors and Awards:

Phi Beta Kappa: S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo, 1974
B.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
Clinician of the Month: Functional Medicine Update: February, 1997
Community Service Award: Washington Psychiatric Society, 1997
Outstanding Teacher Award: Georgetown University Department of Psychiatry, 1997
Clinician of the Month: Audio Interview for Functional Medicine Update, March 1997
Outstanding Teacher Award: Georgetown University Department of Psychiatry, 1999
Historical Society’s Who’s Who Recipient: International Who’s Who of Professionals, 2002
Institute for Functional Medicine, Master Clinician, May, 2009

Scholarship, Publications and Research:

Pharmacokinetic Factors in the Clinical Use of L-Tryptophan. Hedaya, R.J., J. of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol. 4, No. 6, December 1984.
The Womanizer: Hedaya, R.J., Journal of Human Sexuality, Vol. 9, No 1, 1985.
Carcinoid Carcinomatous Meningitis: Nagourney, R.A., Hedaya, R.J.; Annals of Internal Medicine, Volume 102, pp.779-782, 1985.
Utility of Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone in Clinical Practice: A Retrospective Analysis of Thirty Cases: Hedaya, R.J; Manuscript In Preparation.
Understanding Biological Psychiatry Hedaya, R.J., 1996, Norton Publishing Company (311 pages), Professional Book Division.
Bullies, Bullets and the Happy Genes Theory
Letter to the Editor New York Times
July 19, 1996
Seasonal Depression in Patients with Dissociative Disorders: Clark, H.C., Hedaya, R.J., Rosenthal, N.E. In: Journal Of Nervous and Mental Disease: 184;7;433-437. July, 1996.
The Antidepressant Survival Program: How to Beat the Side Effects and Enhance the Benefits of Your Medication Hedaya, R.J., 2000, Crown Publishers (292 pages).
Book Chapter: Stress, Spirituality, Poverty and Community
Texbook of Functional Medicine, Institute for Functional Medicine
Gig Harbor, Washington (2006).
Depression: Advancing the Treatment Paradigm, Hedaya, R.J., Institute for Functional Medicine, Gig Harbor, Washington (May 2008).