OUR STAFF
Meenakshi Vemuri, MD
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Dr. Vemuri is a board certified adult and child and adolescent psychiatrist. She has has been practicing psychiatry for several years. Formerly she has worked as Chief of Psychiatry at Harington Memorial Hospital, Southbridge, MA. She has expertise treating patient across the life span. She is comfortable treating the various psychiatric conditions with comorbidities and presenting with different degrees of severity. She has worked in several different settings including acute inpatient, chronic and long term as well as outpatient setting. She does consultations for ECT as well as TMS for adults and adolescents. She has been involved with clinical studies involving adults and adolescents, working at UMass Medical Center. She has worked as a supervisor and mentor for medical students and residents at UMass Medical Center as well as residents from St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Watertown, MA.
Dr. Vemuri completed her medical education at Guntur Medical College, India. Her Adult Psychiatry Residency was from MCP- Hahnemann University, Philadelphia. She did her fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from Weill- Cornell Medical Center, Westchester, NY. She completed a Psychopharmacology fellowship at UMass Medical School, Worcester.
Zafar Nafis Naqvi, MD
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Dr. Zafar Nafis Naqvi is a Psychiatrist and a Founding Member of the Institute of Coaching, affiliated with McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Z Naqvi has 21 years of cross-cultural experience as a Psychiatrist and 10 years as a Psychoanalyst. His special interests include treating patients with Eating disorders including Anorexia Nervosa, Obesity, Bulimia and Binge-eating disorders as well as patients with Drug and Alcohol addiction.
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Dr. Z.N. Naqvi remained actively involved in academia throughout his career as he believes that the process of teaching helps one learn how to learn. He is working as an Assistant Professor Psychiatry at UMass Medical School. He is also an faculty at Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry. He also completed his extensive training in England (United Kingdom), and he is an International Associate of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
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He is triple American Board Certified in Psychiatry & Neurology, Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry. He has also done his Fellowships in Addiction Psychiatry and Psychoanalytic Psychiatry. He is a trained Psychoanalyst and also a Teaching Supervisor of Psychoanalytic training at UMass Medical School. He has written several articles to combat the stigma associated with Mental illnesses.
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He believes that Psychiatric illnesses are analogous to “rain drops” falling on different textures , as the rain drops produce different sounds when they fall on different textures like, glass, wood, plastic, desert sand etc., same is the infinite variety of disease manifestations when they test someone’s psychological make up/ego-strength”
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He values the in-depth understanding of individuals in Psychiatry for providing comprehensive care and believes that through Psycho-dynamically-informed treatment model and addressing the Addiction Psychiatry facet, which is almost ubiquitous in co-occurring disorders with mental illness, the dynamics behind the patient’s needs can be understood to effectively reduce their longitudinal sufferings by modifying their prognosis.
Jack Tracy LICSW
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, educated at Harvard University and Simmons College, with over 30 years of experience as a Psychotherapist. I have worked at some well known locations in Central MA including UMass Medical School, the Fallon Clinic and Harrington Hospital. My experience has been both on inpatient psychiatric inpatient units as well as outpatient clinics and so I am familiar with a wide variety of psychological problems and conditions.
At this time, I have four main areas of clinical work with which I am involved, anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship issues. Clearly, some people experience a combination of these issues and problems can become quite complex. Other complicating factors of which I am familiar can include substance dependence and medical issues. I work almost exclusively with adults and have an interest in issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community, neurodiversity as well as issues related to sexual, racial and ethnic diversity.
Using a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Psychodynamic Theory I am interested in assisting people to relieve the pressures and problems of the present day while also attending to underlying causes. Issues of stress management, mindfulness, motivation and self-care frequently come into play. The overall goal is to try to reduce the stresses of everyday life and work toward addressing issues that serve as obstacles.
Mary Judd-Pechie, M.Ed, MSSW, LICSW
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When life gives you new challenges that seem difficult and even impossible…. learn and practice new ways to take care of yourself! Engaging in therapy is a gift that you give yourself. It also benefits the people you love and care for. Skills like Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, Gratitude, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and DBT skills can help you feel better by reducing stress and improving ability to cope with different situations.
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I studied Rehabilitation Counseling at Springfield College, with a Concentration in Substance Use Disorders and received a Master’s Degree in 1984. I worked exclusively in the Addictions field for ten years at inpatient detox/rehab programs (Nashua Brookside Hospital, Stonington Institute) and outpatient at Harrington Recovery Services. I returned to Springfield College to earn a Master’s in Social Work in 1996. For the last 23 years I have worked in Community Hospitals and in Private Therapy Practice as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. My experience includes working for Emergency Psychiatric Services with both children and adults, with Dually Diagnosed patients on Inpatient and Partial Hospital Units, and with medically involved patients.
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My understanding of life challenges facing families and individuals today has been broadened by my own experience as a parent and a family caregiver.
