Ashburn Psychological and Psychiatric Services is very pleased to announce its newest team members, psychiatrists, Dr. Joseph Novello and Dr. Imran Akram.  Dr. Novello is renowned locally and nationally for his work in the field of psychiatry over the past 30 years.  He works with children, adolescents, families and adults.  Dr. Akram is a UVA trained psychiatirst with advanced training in adult, substance abuse and geriatric psychiatry.  Please call our office manager, Laura Cusumano, at (703) 723-2999 to schedule a consultation with Dr. Novello or Dr. Akram. Dr. Novello and Dr. Akram’s bios are presented below for your review.

Joseph R. Novello, M.D.

Dr. Novello practices adult and child/adolescent psychiatry and is also a qualified expert in forensic psychiatry and has participated in a wide range of civil and criminal cases.  Dr. Novello also practices and is a leading expert in the field of hypnosis.  He received his M.D. from the University of Michigan and his B.A. from University of Notre Dame.  He has served as the director of child and adolescent services at The Psychiatric Institute of Washington and was founder of the Gateway, a residential treatment program for alcohol and drug abuse.

Dr. Novello has authored two textbooks on psychiatry and has contributed several scientific papers to the medical literature. In addition, he has written three popular books for parents. His featured column, “You and Your Child,” appeared each week in Woman’s World magazine for many years. Dr. Novello’s most recent book, The Myth of More, is about finding happiness in life by overcoming character flaws called “lifetraps” and discovering spiritual values.

Dr. Novello has received numerous awards, including election to the American College of Psychiatrists and Fellowship in the American Psychiatric Association. He has also received a Best Doctors in America Award and the Medallion of the US Surgeon General. Georgetown University, where he is a member of the clinical faculty, has honored him with its Vicennial Award.

Dr. Novello has been a consultant to the National Naval Medical Center and the Inter-American Development Bank and has served as health issues advisor to US Senator John Warner of Virginia.

Dr. Novello is well-known to the general public through his media activities. In Washington, he has hosted his own daily radio call-in program on WMAL and his regular feature, “The Family Doctor,” has appeared on WJLA-TV News.  Dr. Novello has also been active in the media on the national level. His syndicated radio program “Healthtime” has been heard daily in over 300 cities and he has often appeared on network and cable TV news programs and talk shows as well as programs such as Nightline, Good Morning America and The Today Show.

Imran Akram, M.D.

Dr. Akram is a trained Adult and Geriatric Psychiatrist. Furthermore, he specializes in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) which is still recognized as the most effective treatment for acute and chronic treatment refractory psychiatric disorders. He is also qualified to treat the opioid dependent population via Suboxone (Buprenorphine) Treatment. His work at Prince William Hospital and Ashburn Psychological and Psychiatric Services is a nice blend of inpatient and outpatient psychiatry. This helps him to be proficient in dealing with acute crisis intervention on the inpatient and chronic or maintenance treatment on the outpatient basis.

Dr. Akram completed his Psychiatric residency and Geriatric Psychiatry fellowship at University of Virginia Health System. He did his ECT fellowship at Emory University. After finishing his fellowship, he served at a highly reputed hospital in the suburbs of Chicago, Alexian Brothers Health system. The high versatility of Alexian Brothers in treating addiction, adult, geriatric, eating disorders and ECT helped Dr. Akram further his clinical acumen in the above mentioned fields. He plans to provide comprehensive care for his patients at our office through collaboration with colleagues in the field of Medicine, Psychiatry and Psychology. Dr. Akram is a member of American Psychiatric Association and Psychiatric Society of Virginia.

Dr. Michael Oberschneider

Director

Ashburn Psychological and Psychiatric Services