Staff Spotlight: Meet Celeste Peay, MD, JD, Medical Director and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at USC
In this Spotlight, meet Medical Director and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at USC, Celeste Peay, MD, JD. Dr. Peay is board-certified in Adult Psychiatry and board-eligible in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. She provides psychiatric evaluations and medication management informed by psychotherapeutic techniques. She appreciates the flexibility and wholistic nature that the field of psychiatry fosters and aims to meet each individual where they are. Her evaluations include a detailed and thorough exploration of each person’s developmental, social, and cultural contexts in addition to their prior experiences and attitudes towards psychiatric care. These components are essential for formulating an individualized and comprehensive treatment plan for each person.
About Dr. Peay
Dr. Peay received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and her legal degree from Boston University Law School. She completed her internship at Massachusetts General Hospital and completed her adult psychiatry residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital Adult Psychiatry Residency Program at Harvard Medical School. During residency, she was an active member in the Program for Psychodynamics, completing a one-year fellowship in psychoanalytic psychotherapy at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society & Institute. During her final year of residency, she received additional training in meaning-centered psychotherapy and dialectical behavioral therapy. Following residency, she completed a Consultation Liaison Psychiatry fellowship at the combined Los Angeles General Medical Center and Keck Hospital program, focusing on psychopharmacological evaluation and management in medically complex populations. She is currently completing an additional two-year fellowship in Advanced Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at the New Center for Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles. She holds memberships in the American Medical Association, the California Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, and the Academy for Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. She is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.
Q&A with Dr. Peay
What drew you to this field?
When I was in medical school, I was drawn to Psychiatry because of how it wholistically approaches people. I was always drawn to the comprehensive “biopsychosocial” model which allows patients to be full individuals with full lives beyond their “illness.” Unlike other fields, a patient’s social context can be just as critical to figuring out how best to help them as their formal diagnosis. I also appreciated how psychiatrists get to know patients on a personal level and are privileged to hear about some of the individual’s most personal thoughts or fears.
Talk to us about your relationship with USC.
I’m currently an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at USC and see all sorts of USC students in our on-campus clinic. I work with a full range of students from the newly matriculated 18-year-old undergraduate to the 30-something medical student or PhD candidate and everything in between! In addition to seeing students clinically, I also teach Psychiatry residents and Consultation Liaison Psychiatry fellows. My favorite things to teach are psychodynamic psychotherapy principles, psycho-nephrology, and ICU psychiatry principles.
What do you wish more people knew about your profession?
It’s unfortunate that over the last 20 years, the field of Psychiatry has been reduced to medication management for many psychiatrists. This is unfortunate as it removes some psychiatrists from our long tradition of being both doctor and therapist in one. I think it’s a wonderful thing for both patient and psychiatrist when a patient can engage in psychotherapy and medication management with the same provider. This is not always possible, but when it is, it provides a rich therapeutic relationship.
What makes you excited to be a part of the Bridges to Recovery family?
I so enjoy collaborating with our amazing team here at Bridges to provide state-of-the-art, comprehensive care to our clients. Everyone here is passionate and brilliant, and brings their compassion, thoughtfulness, and expertise each day at work. It’s such a privilege to be able to learn from one another and from our clients as we all work towards promoting mental wellness!
