Ricardo Restrepo, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Restrepo is a dual board-certified in Adult and Addiction psychiatry and has more than two decades of experience in the field of psychiatry and addiction treatment with extensive involvement in clinical care, academic, research and education.

At Mental Health and Wellness Associates, he provides expert psychiatric care and outpatient addiction treatment to adults 18 and older. Dr. Restrepo provides comprehensive psychiatric and substance abuse evaluations, medication management, therapy and second opinions. He works with patients who have depression, anxiety, insomnia, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, other mental health conditions and alcohol and/or substance use disorders.

Dr. Restrepo’s approach is individualized and multifaceted, his recommendations are guided from exploring your early experiences, psychological development, cultural/religious/spiritual background, medical history and genetic risk factors. Dr. Restrepo believes in evidence-based medicine, including the use of both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology for mental health and addiction treatment. Your treatment plan may include medications, psychotherapy, and/or lifestyle modifications. He is a bilingual physician, offering psychiatric treatment in both English and Spanish.

Dr. Restrepo finished his medical school in Universidad CES, Medellín, Colombia.  He then completed his residency training in Psychiatry at Boston University Medical Center where received additional fellowship training in Addiction Psychiatry. He received an Masters in Public Health (MPH) in Global Public Health from NYU in 2008, while working at St Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital, where he was Director of the Addiction Psychopharmacology Clinic at the Addiction Institute of New York.

Since 2012, he has worked at the Long Beach VA Hospital, where he is the Medical Director of the SATP/Buprenorphine Clinic. Ricardo holds an academic position as Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California (Riverside) School of Medicine and most recently at the Charles Drew University, Los Angeles. He teaches and supervises students, psychiatry, family medicine, anesthesiology and internal medicine residents. He serves as committee member of the American Academy of Addiction Medicine (AAAP) as well as a speaker at the American Society of Addiction Medicine Review Course (ASAM) Conference. Dr. Restrepo is currently enroll in the 2023 class of the Certificate in Psychedelic- Assisted Therapies and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).

Dr. Restrepo is a board member of the America Society of Hispanic Psychiatry (ASHP) and he is actively involved in issues related to transcultural psychiatry and behavioral addictions. He has worked with immigrant populations in the United States for over 20 years. As a volunteer for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), he has participated in projects in the United States, Latin America and the Middle East. He has served as a United Nations Consultant since 2005.

Dr. Restrepo has written chapters on addiction and human rights textbooks. He is the co-author of textbooks on buprenorphine as well as women’s health and addiction, and he cooperated with the Translation of DSM-5 to Spanish. As a professional musician he continues finding balance in his work.