Dr. Susana Feldman-Naim, MD

Dr. Susana Feldman-Naim is a psychiatrist with more than 40 years of experience in psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, including three decades in private practice in Bethesda, Maryland. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, she has lived in the United States since 1990. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
Dr. Feldman-Naim specializes in mood disorders, anxiety, and complex affective conditions — a comprehensive category that includes overlapping mood and emotional-regulation difficulties that don’t always fit neatly into a single diagnosis.
Her approach is comprehensive and integrative, combining medication management and psychotherapy with attention to sleep, circadian health, stress regulation, physical activity, and mindfulness. Patients can expect care that treats the whole person, not just a list of symptoms — grounded in decades of clinical and research experience.
Dr. Feldman-Naim completed a Clinical Research Fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), where she served as Senior Staff Fellow in the Clinical Psychobiology Branch. Her research focused on the neurobiology of mood disorders, circadian rhythms, seasonal affective disorder, and rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. Her publications include collaborative work with recognized researchers in the field, including Ellen Leibenluft, Norman Rosenthal, and Thomas Wehr.
- Medical Doctor, Central University of VenezuelaPsychiatric Residency, Central University of Venezuela
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Psychiatry, University Hospital, Caracas
- Clinical Research Fellowship, National Institute of Mental Health
- Advanced Psychotherapy Training, Washington School of Psychiatry
- Excellence Award in Research and Clinical Care, NIMH
- Lilly Fellowship Award, Society of Biological Psychiatry

Publications

Double-blind, placebo-controlled study of single-dose metergoline in depressed patients with seasonal affective disorder.

[J ClinPsychopharmacol, 2002]

Effects of Exogenous Melatonin Administration and Withdrawal in Five Patients With Rapid-Cycling Bipolar Disorder.

[J Clin Psychiatry, 1997]

Diurnal Variation in the Direction of Mood Switches in Patients with Rapid-Cycling Bipolar Disorder.

[J Clin Psychiatry, 1997]

A case of seasonal trichotillomania.

[J Clin Psychiatry, 1997]

Salivary and plasma measures of dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) in patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder.

[Biological Psychiatry, 1996]

Bimodal patterns of human melatonin secretion consistent with a two-oscillator model of regulation.

[Neurosci Lett, 1995]

Light therapy in patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder: preliminary results.

[Psychopharmacol Bull, 1995]

Two naturally occurring amino acid substitutions of the 5-HT2A receptor: similar prevalence in patients with seasonal affective disorder and controls.

[Biological Psychiatry, 1996]

Agreement between face-to-face and telephone-administered mood ratings in patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder.

[Psychiatry Research, 1997]

Validation of the hypomania interview guide-seasonal affective disorder (HIGH-SAD) version in patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder.

[Depress Anxiety, 1998]

Lack of relationship between menstrual cycle phase and mood in a sample of women with rapid cycling bipolar disorder.

[Biological Psychiatry, 1999]

The effects of seasons and light therapy on G protein levels in mononuclear leukocytes of patients with seasonal affective disorder.

[Arch Gen Psychiatry, 1999]

From 2020 to 2023, Dr. Feldman-Naim led a cycle of talks and workshops for groups within the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on resilience, stress management, grief, and coping during challenging times. Selected talks (most recent first):