Arwen Podesta MD, ABPN, FASAM, ABIHMis a board certified adult psychiatrist with sub-specializations in addiction medicine, forensic psychiatry, and integrative & holistic medicine. She has a background in biochemistry, complementary medicine and massage therapy. She was excited to successfully merge her intellectual and vocational interests by becoming a medical doctor. She graduated from University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, and then moved to New Orleans for a psychiatry residency at Louisiana State University. She then pursued a fellowshipin Forensic Psychiatry at Tulane University.After Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Podesta was involved with psychiatric care for the most needy anddisenfranchised. She was awarded the Gambit’s 40 Under 40 in 2009. She has been activelyworking in the public sector as Medical Director of ACER and Chief Medical Officer ofLongbranch Recovery, while also consulting with Orleans Criminal Court Intervention (DrugCourt), and Municipal Court Diversion Services. She is also chair and co-creator of the NewOrleans Forensic Mental Health Coalition. In August 2017, she became the President of theLouisiana Chapter of the Society of Addiction Medicine. At all of these venues and programs,her main focus is access to holistic addiction and dependency treatment, and rationalprescribing practices.Dr. Podesta continues to teach and pursue academics, is Tulane Clinical Faculty, is on adissertation committee at UTH Dallas, teaches at the NOPD Academy, and consults withseveral other organizations and institutions. She is a well renowned speaker, and travels toteach and speak on the subjects of Addiction Medicine and Integrative Psychiatry.After opening Podesta Psychiatry LLC in 2012, Dr. Podesta has been voted into New OrleansMagazine Best Doctors every year. The team at Podesta Psychiatry include some of the besttreatment providers in the Gulf Coast. Podesta Psychiatry has grown toward the multi-disciplinary collaborative model that embodies Dr. Podesta’s wellness model for whole health.

www.podfestawellness.com