Bringing Psychiatry to the Forefront of Medicine - Mona Amini, MD
By Edward Araujo, Managing Editor, Arizona Physician
Photography by Noble Pictures, jeffnoblepictures.com
Mental health is an integral aspect of a person’s health. For years either through stigma, lack of access, or even a focus on physical health has made mental health well-being overlooked. Today, mental health has become one of the top health concerns globally.
Mental health professionals like psychologists, counselors, social workers, and therapists form a cooperative community alongside physicians like psychiatrists in helping patients with their mental health. Yet, due to their education, training in therapy, medical interventions, and ability to prescribe medications, psychiatrists like Dr. Mona Amini are leading the way in helping patients achieve mental health and well-being.
BEGINNING HER MEDICAL JOURNEY
Mona Amini, MD, MBA, is a board-certified psychiatrist who owns and operates her own practice in northern Scottsdale. Dr. Amini began her medical journey at St Matthew’s University in the British West Indies while also earning an MBA from Davenport University. Upon graduation, she completed her Residency at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix (now Banner University Medical Center – Phoenix) in 2013. She has completed over a decade in clinical and administrative medicine with numerous executive and administrative roles.
Dr. Amini has always been future focused and goal oriented. She shares that very early in her career she grew a passion for brain health as one of several components in psychiatry. Psychotherapy, psychotherapeutic models, and psychoanalysis were enticing to her as she completed medical school. Yet, it was the idea that as a psychiatrist, she states, “you have the capability to help somebody change their mindset, which can then have a powerful effect on their physical health.” During residency she would spend a bit more time with psychiatric patients to learn more about them and their stories.
Dr. Amini has experienced her fair share of adversity while starting her medical career. She and her husband married young and while deciding on their respective futures in medicine they decided to attend the same medical school. To do that they decided to attend St. Matthew’s in the British West Indies. Yet, a category 5 hurricane in Grand Cayman forced a semi-permanent relocation to Maine for most of the remainder of basic sciences. During their clinical rotations, her focus on psychiatry led them to spend time in different states for a while. It wasn’t until residency that they felt ready to start a family and move forward with their careers and she is truly grateful for that opportunity.
BREAKING PSYCHIATRY BARRIERS
Why has there been such a stigma about mental health? From media portrayals, stereotypes, personal beliefs, to self-stigma, psychiatry professionals like Dr. Amini work tirelessly to eliminate those barriers. She does so by forging genuine and deep-rooted personal connection with each one of her patients. She states, “When you are somebody that can sit in front of a patient and show empathy and authenticity,” that forges better patient communication, care, and ultimately better outcomes.
How does a psychiatrist that is just beginning to learn more about their patients get them to a place where they can open up and discuss the issues that are affecting them? Dr. Amini shares that you can’t be fake, a good psychiatrist must build beyond the transactional relationship in which a patient may initially see when they come in.
Breaking away from traditional psychiatry norms is helping to break down psychiatry barriers. By moving away from typical psychiatric medical management through 10 to 15-minute visits, Dr. Amini is helping to redefine psychiatry. She hears from her patients how in many instances in their past, those types of psychiatry services have gotten them nowhere and they don’t feel better. So, she adds a more whole-person approach in which she really delves into what her patient’s day-to-day looks like, their hygiene, their sleep, relationships, and even goes back to ask about their childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. She’s never afraid of asking tough questions about their personal lives to better understand her patients and ensure she’s getting the right details to better help her patients reach their mental wellness when they see her.
STARTING HER OWN CONCIERGE PRACTICE
After years of working at other companies and consulting, Dr. Amini decided to open her own practice, Mon'Vie Mind Wellness in October of 2023. In earning her MBA, she could put to practice some of the business skills she had learned along the way. She also decided to be a sole practitioner and specifically, to be a concierge medical practitioner.
Concierge psychiatry differs from typical psychiatry in that patients do pay out-of-pocket, yet have more flexible access to their psychiatrist, spend more time with their psychiatrist during each visit, and there is a focus on personalized
care for each patient. For psychiatrists like Dr. Amini it helps remove the burden of being told how many patients to see and eliminates the burdensome filing of insurance claims.
Dr. Amini has learned to thrive in this concierge environment. She makes her patients feel safe, is discrete, and has a confidential setting in which they only engage with her. High-end clients appreciate the departure from the typical psychiatrist’s office, instead of being welcomed into a professional yet intimate setting where they feel comfortable sharing what’s on their mind.
Her approach incorporates psychotherapy, guiding patients toward a deeper understanding of self-care, encouraging thought-provoking questions, and helping them explore new perspectives on important issues. Her patients get to see and feel an aesthetic and attention to detail, which speaks to her thought-provoking nature. She also is her practice’s best marketer, as she knows how to be the best spokesperson by speaking directly to her entire community.
Beyond her practice, Dr. Amini stays active as the Medical Director of other psychiatric practices, an advisor to companies, and a speaker, leading wellness seminars for physicians and medical professionals. Amid her busy schedule, she always prioritizes carving out high-quality time to spend with her husband and family.
THE FUTURE IN PSYCHIATRY
Dr. Amini tells us, “The future of psychiatry has more digital health with a lot of innovation.”
She sees a huge outpouring of venture capital funding for mental health as an extension of COVID- 19 pandemic era investment into the industry. From neurofeedback headbands that help with sleep, devices patients will utilize at home in conjunction with their mental health professional, to even more sophisticated and advanced applications that make telehealth and virtual health models more and more common and useful to both patients and physicians.
The future in psychiatry will involve a lot of screening as there’s going to be a lot more objective data and evidence to help back some of rationales for types of treatments. She also believes that there will be a lot more funding going towards psychedelics based on seeing how they have helped different populations when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety.
Finally, Dr. Amini shares her excitement when it comes to the next generation of physicians turning to psychiatry because it is becoming ultra-competitive in residency matching, meaning those coming into the profession are bright, looking to make change happen, leading psychiatry into a very different trajectory.
This approach may lead many to offer concierge-level services, helping to prevent early burnout, allowing them to avoid a strict patient quota, and most importantly giving them the time to sit down with their patients, truly get to know them, and provide more personalized care for better outcomes. â–
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edward Araujo is the Managing Editor of Arizona Physician magazine and puts together Arizona Physician media. He is also Director of Marketing and Communications for the Maricopa County Medical Society (MCMS). Edward has over 20 years of marketing, operational, donor relations, volunteer management, and board development experience. He is highly skilled and experienced as a creator of print, digital, & audio media and social media.