Dr. Alice Louise Kagan, MD

Welcome to My Doctor Online, a web site that my colleagues and I developed to make it easier for you to take care of your healthcare needs. On this site you will find several online features that will allow you to e-mail me, check your laboratory results and refill prescriptions. Also, included are online classes and podcasts to help you become as healthy as you can be. Background

I have been a Kaiser Permanente physician for over thirteen years, and psychiatrist for over twenty years. Before moving to Northern California, I worked as a psychiatrist treating veterans at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, in private practice, and also in county clinics in the Los Angeles area. I was happy to leave the Los Angeles area and relocate to Santa Rosa, a slower and more peaceful place to live.

Kaiser Permanente allows me to make my own decisions about how to give the best patient care. It also offers a multidisciplinary treatment approach and easy access to specialists. My job is …made even more rewarding by being part of an outstanding Department of Psychiatry where I work with other colleagues who are professional, caring, and talented people.

As a psychiatrist, I work closely with psychologists, therapists, and neurologists as well as primary care physicians to offer you an integrated health care system. This allows you to have your own personalized treatment plan. Our clinic offers diagnostic evaluations, medication treatment, crisis evaluation, alcohol and drug treatment as well as individual and group therapy. We also offer some unique treatment programs that allow people to learn skills and develop new habits to deal with their specific problems. Our treatment programs are especially excellent in our department, and I have seen many people's lives changed by active participation in these programs in conjunction with medication management.

I became interested in psychiatry as a specialty because I found it to be the most interesting and stimulating area in medicine. I also feel this specialty allows me to use my personality and unique gifts to help others. I enjoy being a physician and psychiatrist because it gives me an opportunity to help people decrease their suffering and improve their daily life.

Working collaboratively with patients is an essential part of my style of practice. I see our relationship as a partnership designed to help you understand yourself and your symptoms better. This can enable you to resolve and/or decrease symptoms in order to achieve a healthier and happier life. Medications are essential for many people to bring balance to their neurochemistry. This generally allows for a significant decrease in the symptoms of an illness, thereby allowing a greater quality of life.

Please try out the links on the side of the page to find out more about various health issues. If you wish to learn more about my credentials you can use the link on the bottom of the page. Lastly, please don't hesitate to contact me with your questions or concerns.
Roles and Responsibilities

I am a member of Depression Best Practices Workgroup of Northern California, Kaiser Permanente. We recently rewrote The Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Depression in Psychiatry, for Kaiser Permanente, Northern California. Professional Affiliations

A longtime interest of mine has been alternative medicine and the mind-body connection. I also am interested in women's health issues, prenatal and postpartum concerns, geriatric psychiatry, and ADHD. However, I find my practice more meaningful if it includes general psychiatry which allows me to see both men and women of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, and with a variety of different issues.

Great health resources that I refer to are the classical textbooks on psychiatry, and Kaplan's Synopsis of Psychiatry, Psychopharmacology textbooks, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and ongoing continuing medical education courses in psychiatry.