Michael Brus, M.D.
B.A., University of Pennsylvania
M.D., University of Washington School of Medicine
Residency in Psychiatry, The Mount Sinai Hospital
Board Certified, Psychiatry
Diplomate, Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies
Tobacco Treatment Specialist
Clinical Instructor, Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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"I love being a psychiatrist. I love helping people achieve what they want out of life. I chose to become an expert in both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology so that I could design a unique and specialized program of healing for each of my patients."
About Dr. Brus
Dr. Brus grew up in Madison, New Jersey. After graduating in 1999 with a B.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, he worked as a political journalist for Slate.com.
He then switched careers and entered the mental health field, starting out as a social worker in the early 2000s. He worked in a homeless shelter for a year and then spent several years as a case manager for chronically mentally ill patients suffering from schizophrenia and psychosis.
After deciding to become a psychiatrist, Dr. Brus earned his M.D. from the top-ranked University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he was trained by some of the leading psychopharmacologists and psychotherapists in the country.
He currently teaches and supervises psychiatry students as a Mount Sinai faculty member. By sitting on the faculty of one of the leading medical schools in the country, Dr. Brus is on the front lines of the latest mental health research. He is passionate about applying these advances to better serve his patients.
Dr. Brus is trained in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). He has the distinction of being one of only 1,500 people worldwide to be certified by the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies, the leading indicator of CBT skill and expertise. He is a CBT supervisor for psychiatry residents at Mount Sinai. To read more about CBT, click here. To read why it's important that your therapist use a technique that is proven to help, click here.
He is also an expert in Dialectial Behavioral Thearapy (DBT) and Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT). He has been trained in DBT by Behavioral Tech, the premier DBT training organization, established by the treatment's founder, Dr. Marsha Linehan. He has conducted a daylong DBT training for the National Association of Social Workers and has taught numerous DBT skills groups. He is also proud to be one of the first clinicians in New York City to practice RO-DBT, a new treatment for disorders of "overcontrol," such as treatment-resistant major depression and anorexia nervosa. He has been intensively trained in RO-DBT by the treatment's founder, Thomas Lynch. (To read more about DBT, click here. To read more about RO-DBT, click here.)
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Four four years, he was chief attending psychiatrist on the Training Unit at Bronx Psychiatric Center, a state-hospital ward for patients with complex, treatment-resistant psychotic disorders. In this role, he consulted with the medical director's office of the New York State Office of Mental Health on special projects related to the treatment of tobacco addiction.
He served as clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he supervised both junior and chief residents. He also supervised psychology externs from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University and social-work interns from the NYU Silver School of Social Work.
He is a licensed physician in New York State and is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is a DEA-certified prescriber of buprenorphine (Suboxone) opioid replacement therapy.
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He is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of several other professional organizations, including the the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, the Association for Behavioral and Cogntivie Therapies, the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and the American Medical Association.
In 2014, he was chosen by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) as one of the country's rising stars in mental health.
He has published many peer-reviewed scientific articles, led training seminars for clinicians at conferences and hospitals, and continues to write for mainstream publications on psychiatric issues.
You can read more about Dr. Brus's career change from journalism to psychiatry in this article he wrote for Slate.
To read more about the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies' rigorous standards for certification, click here.
Click here to read Dr. Brus's article for Slate on how tennis players and other athletes can literally talk themselves into winning or losing.
Click below to watch Dr. Brus's television appearance discussing the media's coverage of tobacco addiction.
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Scientific Publications and Presentations
The overlooked pandemic: How psychiatrists and the media ignore tobacco addiction, and what to do about it
Grand Rounds
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, N.Y., April 15, 2021
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The deadliest addiction: Why do we have such a hard time treating tobacco use, and how can we do better?
Statewide Grand Rounds
New York State Office of Mental Health
Presented with Carol Lanzara, M.S., J.D.
Moderated by Jay Carruthers, M.D., Director, OMH Bureau of Psychiatric Services and Research Institute Support
Albany, N.Y., February 19, 2020
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The deadliest drug epidemic: How psychiatrists and the media miss the boat on tobacco addiction, and what to do about it
IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference
American Psychiatric Association
Two-part session, co-presented with Jill Williams, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
New York, N.Y., October 4, 2019
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How psychiatrists and the media miss the boat on tobacco addiction, and what to do about it
Tobacco Dependence 2019 State Learning Collaborative
Center for Practice Innovations, New York State Psychiatric Institute
Sponsored by the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry
New York, N.Y., October 2, 2019
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Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Theory and Practice for Treating Disorders of Overcontrol
Skills Training Manual for Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Clinician’s Guide for Treating Disorders of Overcontrol
Michael Brus, M.D.
Book review in Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(5):547-549, 2019
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Medication-assisted addiction treatment
Anxiety and Depression Association of America Conference
Part of a multi-disciplinary symposium titled, “Multifaceted Approaches to Treating the Opioid Epidemic.”
Chicago, Ill., March 30, 2019
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What should we do about tobacco addiction?
Tobacco Dependence 2018 State Learning Collaborative
Center for Practice Innovations, New York State Psychiatric Institute
Sponsored by the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry
New York, N.Y., September 24, 2018
Treating tobacco addiction
Grand Rounds
Bronx Psychiatric Center
Sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, N.Y., May 21, 2018
Quitting the smoking blues: How your client’s tobacco addiction affects depression and anxiety, and what you can do about it
Anxiety and Depression Association of America Conference
Washington, D.C., April 6, 2018
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General Principles of Psychotherapy
Asher B. Simon and Michael Brus
Mount Sinai Expert Guides: Psychiatry, Ed. Asher B. Simon, Antonia S. New, and Wayne K. Goodman. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2017. 44-51
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Parachute NYC: What is the psychiatrist’s role in a dialogical, non-hierarchical model?
Lindy DC, Brus M, Roye T, and Pessin N
Poster presented at IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference, American Psychiatric Association, New Orleans, La., October 2017
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Adult ADHD vs. Bipolar Disorder in the DSM-5 Era: A Challenging Differentiation for Clinicians
Brus MJ, Solanto MV, and Goldberg JF
Journal of Psychiatric Practice, 2014 Nov 20(6):428-37
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Psychiatry Trainees’ Antidepressant Prescribing Practices
Brus MJ, Iosifescu DV, Simon AB
Presented at:
-Mount Sinai GME Research Day, June 2013
-American Psychiatric Association, annual meeting, May 2013
-Anxiety and Depression Association of America Conf., April 2013
-Mount Sinai IME Education Research Day, April 2013
Thyroid (T3) Supplementation in a Woman with Treatment-Resistant Major Depression
Clinical Grand Rounds lecture
Presented to Mount Sinai Department of Psychiatry, April 2, 2013
Discussant: Dan V. Iosifescu, M.D.
Psychotherapy for Schizophrenia: A Review of Modalities and their Evidence Base
Brus M, Novakovic V, and Friedberg A
Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 40(4) 609-616, 2012
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Brus MJ and Jennit A
Journal of Communicable Diseases, 42(2) 123-133, 2010