Let’s Talk Psychiatry! with Dr. Dan Mierlak
“If you examine your thinking process, you may come to the same conclusion; that thoughts happen to us, we don’t necessarily control them.”
Psychiatrist Dr Dan Mierlak returns to In the Balance to discuss his new book, The Spanish Molecule, a purposefully sassy and thought-provoking read. He and Susan discuss some of the central themes of the book - and by extension, themes of the human condition - including how to avoid becoming captive to the choices we make in life, why it’s important to respect and go with the flow, and what happens to the population at large when a world-changing event like the covid-19 pandemic forces us to ask ourselves how we want to live our lives?
Meet This Episode's Guest
Dr. Dan Mierlak
Dr. Mierlak has been practicing general psychiatry since 1993, and addiction psychiatry since 1995.
Dr. Mierlak received his PhD in neuroscience in 1987, and his MD in 1989, both from the SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, Downstate Medical Center. He completed his psychiatric residency at Weill Cornell Medical Center, Payne Whitney Clinic at New York Hospital, in 1993. Dr. Mierlak joined the faculty at New York Hospital in 1993 when he was appointed Chief Resident of the Payne Whitney Clinic psychiatry residency program.
After completing a research fellowship in HIV psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical Center in 1995, Dr. Mierlak joined the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse at New York University, Bellevue Hospital Center. There he completed his addiction psychiatry fellowship and served as the Unit Chief for the Bellevue MICA-TC, a modified therapeutic community for homeless, dually diagnosed men, housed in the Bellevue men’s shelter.
In 1998 Dr. Mierlak became Director for Psychiatric Services at the Smithers Treatment Center (now Addiction Institute) at Roosevelt Hospital. There he consulted on the inpatient, outpatient and ambulatory detox services.
Since 2000, Dr. Mierlak has been in full time private practice focusing on psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for patients with psychiatric and chemical dependency disorders. Dr. Mierlak returned to the faculty at Weill Cornell College of Medicine as Clinical Assistant Professor in 2000. In 2006 Dr. Mierlak expanded his private practice to Montclair New Jersey.
In 2008, Dr. Mierlak became Medical Director at the Freedom Institute, a non-profit outpatient alcohol and drug treatment center in midtown Manhattan with a 30 year history of treating patients.
