MARK VAKKUR, M.D., P.C.

email: mvakkur@gmail.com



My treatment philosophy
My treatment philosophy is simple: I apply the same diagnostic and therapeutic rigor to the treatment of psychiatric conditions as I would to any medical condition. I see myself as a physician who happens to treat disorders that arise in the central nervous system and manifest themselves through a cluster of recognizable symptoms, usually involving disruption of mood, cognition, appetites, drive, and at times reality perception. Most of the struggle in psychiatry is getting the diagnosis right. Everything else follows. Beginning the appropriate evidence-based treatment often leads to life-altering improvement.
Psychiatry is often perplexing, sometimes humbling, but never dull. It's rare I can't help in some way, and I see that as an enormous privilege. With so many treatment options available - most developed since I graduated medical school - it's an exciting time to be in mental health. I believe imparting optimism, hope, and humor are a critical part of my job.
What I offer
Psychiatric evaluation and treatment involves a collaborative partnership. My goal is that of consultant. I listen carefully, reflect to make sure I've got it right, gather an exhaustive medical and personal history, then offer a range of evidence-based choices based on what you have told me.
I use a proprietary target symptom scoring model I have developed over the years that allows me to review your entire history at a glance, allowing us to make optimal adjustments and recommendations based on the most important piece of data available - your own history and response to treatment.
My approach is minimalist - less is more; err on the side of less medication at a lower dose; if it ain't broke, don't fix it - and holistic - I prescribe regular exercise and a well-balanced diet more than I do any medication.
I offer a wide array of treatment services, from medication management to psychotherapy. Although I have evaluated and treated clients with virtually every psychiatric diagnosis I am most experienced evaluating and treating attention deficit disorder, major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

About me
I am a board-certified psychiatrist practicing in Decatur, Georgia, where I have lived and worked for most of the past 20 years.
Following graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1986, I obtained my medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine. While there, I researched alcohol dependence (especially how primary care physician biases toward alcohol influenced recognition of alcohol abuse in their patients), studying public health at the nearby University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill then stayed at Duke for my psychiatry residency. Areas of particular interest were mood disorders, veterans mental health, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and dependence, and student issues. I worked for a year at the Duke Counseling and Psychological Services, providing psychiatric evaluation, medication management, and psychotherapy to college and graduate students. We then relocated to Atlanta so that my wife, also a physician, could enter the prestigious Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I took a job with the Atlanta VA Medical Center, where I worked with combat veterans of every war from World War II and was a director of medical student and residency education.
As an Emory assistant professor, I won several teaching awards, including Psychiatry Residents' Award for Outstanding Educator in 1998, Best Psychiatry Attending in 1999, and the Association for Academic Psychiatry Junior Faculty Award in 1999. I worked in a busy private practice from 2001 to 2009, when we relocated as a family to Geneva, Switzerland, for 5 years . There I helped raise my three children, did consult work for the World Health Organization (where my wife worked), and flew back to Georgia in the summers to work psychiatric hospital jobs.


Personal interests
Personal interests beyond psychiatry include writing (I published 2 novels when younger), literature, language (fluent in German and French), history, and music (I studied jazz piano with an outstanding teacher while in Switzerland). I believe that we are all life-long students and should never stop growing and learning!

I am a board-certified psychiatrist practicing in Atlanta, Georgia. I offer a wide array of treatment services, from medication management to psychotherapy. I am most interested in working with adolescents and young adults, particularly students and veterans, although I treat and evaluate a wide array of age groups and disorders.

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email: mvakkur@gmail.com

 

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