Dr. Michael Ascher, MD

“Michael Ascher is one of the most talented psychiatrists I have come across to date. His professionalism is matched only by the compassion he shows his clients. His expertise in treating addiction makes him unique in the field of psychiatry. Using contemporary, evidence-based strategies and medically assisted treatments, my clientele has been fortunate to benefit from his expertise. Without reservation and with the highest of regard, I recommend his services to you!”

“Dr. Ascher is a highly regarded and effective psychiatrist. I always feel confident referring my patients to him; he has a unique combination of skillfullness, expertise, responsiveness, straightforwardness, warmth, and ethical treatment. I do not say this lightly, as I am very careful when selecting a psychiatrist for my patients. I recommend him without reservation.”

“I coordinate care with Dr. Ascher for several patient and refer challenging cases to him often. I have consistently been impressed with his professionalism, knowledge, responsiveness, and interpersonal skill. Psychiatry is fortunate to have him among their ranks! Indeed, the world is fortunate because his excellent treatment of people dependent on substances undoubtedly makes the world a much safer place for all.”

“Dr. Ascher is compassionate and a wonderful and involved colleague. He never "gives up" on anyone regardless of their suffering and treatment response. We share many patients because of our different specialties- and he is my go to referral for addiction psychiatry. He is non-judgemental and is both warm and professional. I highly recommend him for anyone with any type of issues but especially addiction illlnesses.”

“Dr. Michael Ascher embraces a calm, collected approach to his everyday practice. This is reflected in his gentle and supportive reassurances to patients, trainees, and colleagues. His tranquil, soothing demeanor is contagious. I believe he will continue to be one of the most prolific writers and innovators in our field.”

“Dr. Michael Ascher is dedicated to not only providing exceptional care to his patients, but when indicated also helping them find collateral treatment providers for a comprehensive approach. He makes it a point to work closely with other providers in order to provide optimal care to the patients. Dr. Ascher's devotion, professionalism, and expertise has earned him the respect from colleagues and patients that make him the ideal candidate for Doctor's Choice Award.”

“Dr. Ascher is a consumate professional. He is the most published author of psychiatric literature that I have the pleasure of knowing. I have worked with Dr. Ascher and know him to be an excellent clinician, researcher, and educated. Dr. Ascher is of the highest calibre, and a true model to the profession of psychiatry.”

“Dr. Ascher is an extremely conscientious and responsible physician who is appreciated by his patients for his calm and kind demeanor. His capacity to develop sophisticated and comprehensive treatment plans for patients with co-occurring issues is outstanding. His passion for psychiatry, psychotherapy, and family work is truly unique.”

“Dr. Michael Ascher is one of my most trusted colleagues. He is accessible, funny, thorough, thoughtful, and really takes the time to get to know his patients, something that is a rarity in psychiatry these days. We have worked together in treating multiple mutual patients, and I have enjoyed our deep-rooted collaboration in these cases.”

“Dr. Ascher is a smart, kind, compassionate psychiatrist who I have had the pleasure of collaborating with over the year with a complex case. I would not hesitate to refer other patients to him, because aside from his inviting manner, he is innovative in his approach to more difficult situations. I appreciate that although he is very busy, he makes himself accessible to both patients and colleagues. I look forward to continuing to work together.”

“I have had the pleasure of successfully collaborating with Dr. Ascher on several patients presenting with highly complex issues. I have found him to be incredibly dedicated, compassionate, knowledgeable, and down-to-earth in his approach. Dr. Ascher appreciates the importance of the eco- system in treatment and is quite creative in his ability "think-out-of-the box" in creating systems of care in the community to support patients when necessary.”

“I had the pleasure of being supervised by Dr. Ascher while on a dual diagnosis service. The unit census consisted of number of patient with active drug addiction with strong personality pathology. I was struck by Dr. Ascher’s ability to deal diplomatically with these patients and particularly their strong affects. He never compromised care with the most difficult patients. Moreover he worked with me extensively on not only the in’s and outs of addiction treatment but also reframing my conception of “the difficult patient” as most often stemming from treatable disease states.”

“Dr. Ascher is an outstanding and compassionate physician. He is responsive to his patients, available to them quickly by phone more so than many other physicians. Dr. Ascher provides high quality care to patients and takes a family-centered approach. He is skilled in both medication management and psychotherapy. He has special expertise in substance use challenges and developmental life stages. I highly recommend him and will refer my own patients to him.”

“Dr. Ascher is kind, compassionate, inspirational and dynamic, all qualities that make him the leader that he already is. I have had the honor to learn from him during our collaborative writing projects in residency, and he remains a mentor to me and many other mental health professionals to this day. But, above all he is an outstanding academic clinician that translates clinical research into phenomenal, compassionate, and individualized patient care. I would highly recommend him to patients seeking exceptional psychiatric care.”

“I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Dr. Michael Ascher both during and after his residency training. I have always been very impressed with his passion, proactivity and dynamism. He is a prolific writer who has published numerous articles, co-authored books, written reviews and book chapters. He has always involved himself in numerous projects in writing and education. He is a compassionate and dedicated clinician committed to providing impeccable patient care, as well as a physician dedicated to education and lifelong learning. It is rare to find a doctor who is equally passionate about clinical work and education and administration, and who is able to excel in all these domains. Michael is someone who always goes above and beyond in every endeavor. He is a natural leader and collaborator.”

“Dr. Ascher is an exceptional psychiatrist who believes in treating the whole person, as opposed to putting his focus solely on medication. He is sensitive to the individual needs and differences in his patients which helps then feel heard and understood, which is a common concern that causes some to avoid psychiatric services due to negative past experiences. He takes great interest in the well being of his patience and stays in regular contact with both the patient and his or her other providers to ensure that they are getting the best possible care.”

“Dr. Ascher is a very highly regarded psychiatrist who is appreciated by his patients and colleagues for his calm and kind demeanor. His clinical accumen, sense of caring, and upbeat personality are great therapeutic strengths. Dr. Ascher continues to display unparalleled motivation and industriousness. Thus far in his early career, he has coauthored two books and edited another. His passion for psychiatry, psychotherapy, and family work is truly unique”

“I have had the pleasure of working with Mike for the past year. He is a caring, compassionate, insightful physician who truly values the well-being of his patients. He strongly believes in engaging the family as part of effective treatment for the individual. Moreover, he allows the patient to be an active partner in their treatment. Mike is not afraid to think “out of the box” when conventional approaches are not yielding positive results. From a collegial standpoint, Mike is incredibly accommodating and epitomizes the definition of collaboration. Perhaps most importantly, Mike is always available to his patients from whom he is constantly learning how to be a better physician. I assure you that Mike is a worthy choice for this award.”

“Its rare these days to meet a physician with a keen sense of what it means to be an empathic and connected doctor. To meet one who also has the knowledge base and experience to attend to complex psychiatric and medical conditions is an even more trying task. Dr. Ascher has both of these important qualiities. I have observed him interacting with individuals from diverse backgrounds with challenging issues and found him to be exceedingly talented in his ablity to understand and work with people to solve complicated life problems. We should all be so lucky to be helped by him.”

“Dr. Ascher is a truly exceptional psychiatrist and a leader in the field of addiction. He is collaborative, warm, engaging, and deeply committed to individualized patient care - everything you could hope for in a clinician and colleague. It has been a joy to work with him, both in sharing cases and co-authoring articles. He has my highest recommendation for this award.”

“Dr. Ascher is not only a very well trained and talented psychiatrist, he also possesses something that only very, very few psychiatrists have: an extraordinary ability to remain calm, compassionate, and at the same time fully rational through the toughest situations. Dr. Ascher is also a highly respected academic physician with numerous original articles and insightful editorials to his credit, publications that reflect both solid knowledge of the scientific literature as well as much needed creativity in the art of healing.”

“Dr. Ascher is extremely compassionate and cares deeply about each person's unique story. He is highly motivated to seek the best care for his patients and advance the field of psychiatry in the areas of addiction and family systems. I have enjoyed reading his latest articles and look forward to his future work.”

“Dr. Ascher is a wonderful doctor and friend. His kindness and warmth are felt immediately upon meeting him. Over the 3.5 years that I have know him, Michael has proved to be a great friend and colleague. Thanks to him in part, I have achieved professional and personal success of which I am very proud. Recently, I consulted with Michael on several psychotherapy cases and his advice was very helpful. His knowledge of psychopharmacology has helped me greatly in my work with patients. On a personally level, Michael has helped me through some difficult times in my life. I will always be grateful for his support. Dr Michael Ascher is extremely worthy of this award.”

“Dr Michael Ascher is a remarkable, dedicate and intelligent psychiatrist. I have had the pleasure of knowing Dr Ascher for several years, and have been consistently impressed with his intelligence, thoughtfulness and empathy. He is also a very talented writer, who has successfully used his ability to further the field through research and publishing papers and reviews to guide others.”

“Dr. Ascher is a remarkable psychiatrist who views issues from multiple perspectives and develops both a broad and deep understanding. He is able to develop dynamic treatment approaches that balance medical, psychological and social needs while engaging with patients in a warm and compassionate manner. He shows the potential for remarkable and innovative accomplishment in the field.”