Addiction Psychiatry in New York City

Many people who come to Evolution Medicine don't arrive with a label. They arrive exhausted — by the cycling, by the starting over, by a sense that something underneath the substance use has never fully been addressed.

Addiction rarely exists in isolation. It almost always lives alongside anxiety, depression, unresolved trauma, and often, biological imbalances that haven't been identified — let alone treated. Treating one without the other is where most approaches fall short.

What Addiction Psychiatry Is

Addiction psychiatry is a board-certified medical subspecialty focused on the evaluation and treatment of substance use disorders and the conditions that accompany them. Dr. Lazarevic holds dual board certification in General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry — a distinction fewer than 5% of psychiatrists hold — and addiction represents approximately 60% of her clinical practice.

This is not a referral specialty or an add-on. It is a primary area of clinical expertise.

Patients across the full spectrum are welcome: active use · early recovery · long-term recovery · abstinent · and those who don't identify with the word "addiction" at all, but recognize that their relationship with substances is affecting their health, their work, or their relationships.

Why Standard Treatment Often Falls Short

Rehab programs, 12-step models, and general outpatient care can offer real value — but they frequently leave the underlying picture unaddressed. Without treating what's driving the cycle, recovery remains fragile.

Common gaps include treating substance use without diagnosing co-occurring depression, anxiety, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) · underutilizing or over-relying on Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) without a broader plan · overlooking the body's role — gut dysregulation, inflammation, hormonal imbalance — in sustaining cravings and mood instability · and applying one-size-fits-all protocols that don't account for individual biology, history, or life context.

Our Approach

Comprehensive Dual Diagnosis Evaluation — We begin with a thorough psychiatric assessment that looks beyond the substance use itself: the full psychiatric history, co-occurring anxiety, depression, attention patterns, and trauma — because what addiction is medicating matters as much as what it involves.

Medication Management and Optimization — When clinically appropriate, evidence-based medications — including MAT — are used as one part of a larger, individualized plan. The goal is always optimization: the right intervention, at the right dose, for the right reasons.

Biological and Nutritional Assessment — Substances affect the body. Gut health, inflammation, hormonal status, and nutritional depletion all play a role in mood stability, craving, and recovery capacity. Helaine Polanco, our functional nutritionist, works with patients on the biological repair that psychiatric treatment alone doesn't address. This is available both a la carte and through our Momentum Care™ Packages — coordinated multi-provider care for patients who need more than one discipline.

Psychotherapy Integration — Dr. Shuki Cohen brings trauma-informed psychotherapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and motivational interviewing into the treatment picture. Recovery often requires working directly with the psychological roots of use — not just managing the behavior.

What Makes Evolution Medicine Different

Dual board certification, not a side specialty — Addiction psychiatry is core to this practice, not an extension of general psychiatry.

Dual diagnosis as the default — We do not separate the addiction from the depression, the anxiety, or the trauma. We treat the whole system from the first visit.

Discreet, private, outpatient care — No hospital setting. No group intake. No label required. This is confidential, individualized psychiatric care in a private Midtown Manhattan office.

Biological recovery alongside behavioral recovery — What substances do to the body — the gut, the hormones, the nervous system — is part of what we treat.

A coordinated team when you need one — Momentum Care™ Packages bring psychiatry, psychology, and nutrition into a structured, fixed-fee model for patients whose recovery requires more than one discipline working independently.

Still evaluating? These pages may help.

Understanding co-occurring depression → Treatment-Resistant Depression
How we approach the full picture → Integrative Psychiatry NYC
Have questions? Frequently Asked Questions