ABOUT
“I’ve learned people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ”
Marissa Caudill, MD, PhD
About Dr. Marissa Caudill
I am an adult, child and adolescent psychiatrist based in Los Angeles, originally from New Hampshire. I am married and have two children.
I love to be with my family, I love reading and learning, and I love to spend time talking with friends and family. I exercise regularly, “eat food, not too much, mostly plants” as Michael Pollan directs us. I get plenty of sleep, and I spend time everyday thinking about how great my life is and what I can do to make it even better.
I see no conflict in being both supremely grateful and constantly striving to improve myself and my world.
I let my short and long term goals guide how I spend my time and hold myself accountable to do my best work, because I want to live an extraordinary life that has meaning and impact. And I want the same for my kids.
The three adjectives that best describe me are: optimistic, energetic, and curious.
Since 2007, I have worked in a variety of settings - starting with the tertiary care academic inpatient and outpatient psychiatric clinics within UCLA and the West Los Angeles VA hospital. I then worked in community mental health centers serving adults and kids within Los Angeles. For almost six years I ran a private practice. During that time I also worked with a local partial hospital program and residential treatment program for teens. Most recently, I was a psychiatrist and partner physician within Kaiser Permanente in Southern California.
Starting in late 2022, my commitment to serving as “The Parent Doctor” crystallized. As many of you reading this know, adolescent mental health in the US is in a state of crisis, with rates of teen depression and anxiety on the rise since 2007. These rates rose dramatically during the pandemic, which I witnessed first hand. In fact, I cared for so many young patients who were seriously struggling that I myself felt overwhelmed. In stepping back from my clinical job and reflecting over the last year, I allowed myself to work past the guilt I felt about stepping away at a time when mental health providers were so needed. Once I had distance from this painful emotion, guilt, I realized what was really true. I realized that I am not responsible for “saving” anyone. I also realized that if I want to order to help the most people, I needed to change my approach and how I was spending my time.
I can do more good, for longer in my life, if I remain energized and excited by focusing myself on the goal of spreading my knowledge to parents, and guide them to use this knowledge to transform their own attitudes and actions, and to share this experience with their children.
I am certain that my greatest impact on child and teen mental health will come by sharing my expertise and guidance with as many parents as possible using technology and online education resources.
There are only so many people I can reach working one on one in a clinic. Even if I work full time for 40+ years, there would be a limit. Time is the limit. But with the power of the internet, I can spend my time in a way that has infinite reach. My words, spirit, love, and guidance can hopefully reach many more than they otherwise would, and thus be amplified exponentially through you, the loving parents of this world.
Thanks for being here!
