Hi! I'm Kayse.

If you are curious about my background, check out the  blog posts I wrote about my journey to become a psychiatrist + astrologer. In brief, I was born in swampy South Georgia, surrounded by alligators, azaleas, and old oak trees. I was a sensitive, artistic child (left-handed) with an adventurous streak. During childhood, I spent a lot of time on St. Simons Island, near Savannah. My family moved there permanently 20+ years ago, so I now consider St. Simons my hometown. There are marshes, sand dunes, and more of those hauntingly beautiful old oak trees. It's a soulful place. My inner guidance pulled me north and west for most of my life, but I appreciate many things about my Southern roots.

 

Education-wise, I graduated from Duke University, the University of Michigan Med School, Swedish Family Practice Internship (Seattle), and the University of Arizona Psychiatry Residency. I am a certified yoga instructor and a certified Chopra Perfect Health (Ayurvedic) educator. I have professional training in MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), Mind-Body Skills Group Facilitation (Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Washington, DC), Zero Balancing I and II, Reiki I and II, sound healing, dance therapy (Daria Halprin, Gabrielle Roth, Zuza Engler), expressive writing (U of Az Poetry Center), meditation, biofeedback, art therapy, and more. I founded two art therapy programs (U Mich Children's Hospital and Duke U) and a grant-funded teen healing arts/empowerment program before I finished my formal education. I directed school-based body-image and self-esteem programs in Michigan and Colorado. I taught nutrition at Denver University and lectured regularly on Ayurveda at the Chopra Center (more on that below). I have given multiple lectures on Holistic Psychiatry at UAz, UCLA, and UCSD (clips on the Videos page).

 

I took a "bushwacking" approach to finding my path, similar to many unique people (beat of our own drums). I have been interested in other cultures (and people from other cultures) since childhood. I had a sort of awakening during medical school, corresponding to potent transits in my natal and progressed astrology charts. This cemented my passion for cross-cultural, holistic healing and drew my attention towards astrology, yoga, and mysticism. I did well in medical school (97% on my boards, honors graduate), but I was dissatisfied with some of the limitations of western medicine. After graduation, I took an atypical three-year "sabbatical" to ponder what I really wanted to do. I lived at a yoga ashram, worked as a yoga instructor, founded the teen empowerment program mentioned above, made art, taught a mind-body-skills class (yoga, meditation, mandala art, biofeedback, journaling) for adults, completed a Spanish-immersion in Cusco (Peru), and studied with healers in Arizona, Tulum (Mex), Iquitos/Amazon jungle (Peru), and Colorado.

 

Around the time of my Saturn Return (29 yrs old), a point of reckoning in astrology, I recommitted to my medical education, thinking I would (one day) like to work with Andrew Weil or Deepak Chopra and eventually have my own healing center (I did all of those things!). The transition back to medicine was rocky, however, and internship was the most difficult year of my life. Much of what I know about anxiety, burnout, inflammation, and depression came from my own struggles during and after internship. Thankfully, psychiatry residency was more easeful/a better fit for my talents than internship (in Family Medicine). The U of Az is a holistic place, and I chose to do my residency there for that reason. I had faculty mentors interested in mind-body medicine, psychedelics, herbalism, meditation, and shamanism. My supervisors thought I had a talent for psychotherapy, so I received extra training/supervision in multiple styles of therapy (CBT, DBT, ACT, psychodynamic/analytic). I completed five-, seven-, and 10-day meditation retreats with renown teachers Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Jack Kornfield/Spirit Rock during vacations. I arranged electives with Canyon Ranch and Andrew Weil, MD, as well. At the end of residency, I gave an evidence-based Grand Rounds presentation (like a TED talk) on "Art as Medicine". It was awesome!

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After residency graduation, I founded and directed a 5-room healing center "Mystic Mandala Medicine" in downtown Tucson (2009-2012). It had yoga classes, a women's circle, a gallery/shop, community events, astrology, and holistic psychiatry/psychotherapy. I joined Andrew Weil's Program in Integrative Medicine at the U of Arizona as an Adjunct Professor and taught regularly from 2009-2017. From 2012-2015 I ran an ecopsychology practice "Mana Medicine" in Hawaii. I held sessions in nature and worked closely with the energy ("mana") of the land. In 2017 I joined the Chopra Center (founded by Deepak Chopra) in Carlsbad, CA as their first (and only) holistic psychiatrist (and intuitive astrologer). After training in Ayurveda, I became one of Chopra's Ayurvedic physicians, as well. When the Chopra Center closed (Dec 2019), I spent several years as a digital nomad in Costa Rica and Mexico. (Hablo bastante bien español, y me encanta praticar!) I'm back in SoCal now, writing books on holistic psychiatry + astrology while working online.

 

• You can follow my current local and previous nomadic adventures (and astro-musings) on Instagram: @mysticmandala.

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Regarding astrology, I am primarily a self-taught western astrologer (though I am knowledgable about Vedic and Mayan astrology, as well). My interest in astrology was awakened in med school, but my first teacher didn't enter my life until after graduation (2003). She was a holy woman (an American who lived 20+ years with her guru in India) who knew much about astrology (and other interesting things). After that "intiatory" experience, there were workshops, mentors, and 10+ years of self-study and research. I didn't plan to become an astrologer. I just found it fascinating + helpful, and it came naturally to me. When I opened my healing center in 2009, I wove astrology into my work with interested psychotherapy clients, and by 2010, many of those clients had referred friends for readings. I now have hundreds of hours of 1:1 astrology client experience. I have been featured in Vogue and am a regular astrology (+ etc.) contributor at MindBodyGreen and Chopra. In the past few years, astrology has become the foundation of my practice, rather than the other way around! It's a fascinating reversal! Most clients connect intiatially for astrology, and many stay on for coaching, mentorship, apprencticeship (to learn astrology), or psychotherapy. Interesting people are drawn to the unique nature of my practice, which makes my work fun! Some of my students (and clients) are well-known, working in journalism, television, politics, sports, music, business, and fashion.

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My story is unusual, and "pathfinding" has been a theme. This is one reason I'm drawn to help others do the same! If you know astrology, I am a Scorpio with Cancer rising, a Virgo moon, and motivational (+ multi-cultural) Jupiter in the 10th house (a career area) of my chart. I'm committed helping others (Virgo) compassionately (Cancer) transform (Scorpio) and reach their fullest potential (Jupiter). Want to join me?