David A.N. Siegel, MD
Addiction Medicine & Psychotherapy
Confidential & Discreet
How I Came to This Work
I trained originally as a pain physician. Over time it became clear that a significant number of my patients were also living with serious mental illness, addiction, or both — something my training had not prepared me for, and that most of my colleagues preferred not to engage with. The common response, when these issues surfaced, was to discharge the patient.
That never made sense to me. A cardiologist doesn't turn a patient away because they also have diabetes. The complexity doesn't dissolve the obligation — it deepens it. So instead of stepping back from these patients, I stayed with them. Eventually I went back for board certification in addiction medicine. Through study, practice, discussion, and reflection, the learning has never stopped.
What Shaped My Thinking
The further I went into this field, the more I found myself drawn toward questions that don't have easy answers: not just what someone is using, but what the use is doing for them. Not the substance, the behavior, the observable symptom — but what's underneath it, what's driving it.
That wish led me to a serious study of theories of the mind and people's inner life — the history, the meaning, the emotional logic of how someone has come to be where they are. In my experience, this is where the real answers tend to live. Not in a formula or a framework, but in the particular story of a particular person.
Twenty years of practice has deepened rather than diminished that conviction. The people I work with are, in most cases, managing something real — pain, anxiety, a history that was never fully understood — and doing so in a way that has become a problem. Understanding that something is where the work begins.
What Patients Tell Me
Many people who call me have already tried something else. They arrive having found those experiences thin, or incomplete, or simply wrong for who they are.
What they tend to find here is a practice built around them as individuals, with a doctor who is genuinely interested in understanding them and who will stay with them through a process that takes as long as it takes. There are no programs to complete, no steps to follow, no predetermined endpoint.
What tends to develop, over time, is a relationship oriented toward understanding of the person — their experience and what has actually brought them here. Some people are looking for exactly that from the start. Others discover it along the way.
The Practice
I have been practicing in New York City for over twenty years. My practice is small by design — entirely private, with no office staff and no third parties involved in care. I am board-certified in Addiction Medicine with additional training in psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Sessions are conducted in person at my office on the Upper West Side of Manhattan or by video. I am available by phone for emergencies around the clock.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is Dr. Siegel's medical background?
A: I trained originally as a pain physician and came to addiction medicine through that work, after recognizing that many chronic pain patients were also living with addiction or serious mental illness. I am board-certified in Addiction Medicine with additional training in psychodynamic psychotherapy and have been practicing in New York City for over twenty years.
Q: Why does Dr. Siegel combine addiction medicine with psychotherapy?
A: Because treating the surface of addiction — the substance or the behavior — without understanding what is driving it rarely leads to anything lasting. The medical and the psychological dimensions are inseparable in practice, and addressing them together produces more durable outcomes than treating them separately.
Q: Who is this practice for, and how is it different from a standard addiction program?
A: This practice is for people dealing with addiction or related conditions who want care genuinely specific to them — their circumstances, their own pace — rather than a program or fixed protocol.
Q: Is Dr. Siegel available for emergencies?
A: Yes. I am available by phone for emergencies around the clock.
Get in Touch
When you're ready, I'd be glad to hear from you. The first conversation is free, completely confidential, and carries no obligation of any kind.
Call directly: (646) 418-7077
David Siegel, MD
Addiction Medicine Specialist