Private Addiction Medicine

in New York City


Medical treatment and psychotherapy for substance dependence and related conditions

David A.N. Siegel, MD

Board-certified in Addiction Medicine · 20+ years · Upper West Side

About the Practice

My name is Dr. David Siegel. I've been practicing addiction medicine in New York City for over twenty years.

My practice is small and completely private — just you and me. No programs, no group sessions, no one-size-fits-all approaches. There are no crowded waiting rooms, no office staff, no intrusion from third parties. Sessions are conducted in person at my office on the Upper West Side of Manhattan or by video. I answer my own phone and if I'm tied up at the moment, I return voicemails as soon as I'm free. I'm also available for emergencies by phone around the clock.

Everyone who comes to me has their own story, their own reasons for where they are, and their own path forward. My first work is to understand that — as fully as I can.

How I Think About Addiction

Addiction rarely has a single cause. Biology, life history, psychological experience, and the pharmacology of substances all interact. When someone becomes dependent on a substance or behavior, those forces become intertwined.

Effective treatment needs to address all of them. The medical dimension — stabilization, medications as appropriate, careful tapering — creates the neurological conditions for recovery. The psychological dimension — understanding what the substance or behavior has been managing — allows deeper change to occur.

My work combines both. The medical treatment and the conversation are not separate processes. They are parts of the same clinical approach.

 

Understanding What's Happened

When someone becomes dependent on a substance, their brain and body have done something biologically logical — they've reorganized themselves around that substance to maintain function. This is not weakness. This is not failure. It is the mind and body doing what they are designed to do.

Taking that substance away suddenly doesn't fix this — it can collapse the system entirely. Withdrawal is real, it can be serious, and returning to one's own equilibrium takes longer than most people expect. This is why treatment begins with stabilization: replacing what someone has become dependent on with something safer, more manageable, something we can work with carefully over time. That creates the conditions — biological and psychological — that make everything else possible.

 

The Work

Addiction is often a way of managing something real — pain, anxiety, experiences that were never fully understood or worked through. Addressing the surface of the problem without understanding what's underneath it rarely leads anywhere lasting.

What I try to provide is a genuine therapeutic relationship — an ongoing conversation, built around you as an individual, in which it becomes possible to look at things that have never felt safe to look at before. Not by following a program or a protocol, but carefully, at whatever pace makes sense. By helping me understand them, most people find they begin to explain themselves to themselves. That process, done honestly and without hurry, is where real change happens.

Most people who come to me have tried something else first — a detox, a program, a therapist who didn't understand the addiction piece, or a doctor who wouldn't engage with anything beyond the medication. They arrive having found those experiences incomplete. What they tend to find here is different.

  

Co-Occurring Conditions

Chemical dependency rarely exists in isolation. Anxiety, depression, chronic pain, ADHD, and other conditions are commonly intertwined with it, and I treat those as part of the same work.

 Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does a private addiction medicine practice mean?

A: It means your privacy is taken very seriously. The practice operates entirely outside of institutional systems — no programs, no group sessions, no office staff, no crowded waiting rooms, and no involvement from third parties. You work directly with Dr. Siegel, and everything remains between the two of you.

Q: What kinds of problems do you treat?

A: Alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, benzodiazepine dependence, stimulant use, cannabis use, nicotine dependence, compulsive overeating, compulsive gambling, chronic pain with co-occurring addiction, and the anxiety, depression, and other conditions that frequently accompany these.

Q: Do you prescribe medication?

A: Yes. Medication is often an important part of treatment — for stabilizing the nervous system, managing difficult symptoms, and creating the conditions that make the deeper therapeutic work possible. Prescriptions are written as part of an ongoing treatment relationship, not as a standalone service.

Q: Is the first conversation really free?

A: Yes. The initial phone call is free, completely confidential, and carries no obligation. It is simply a conversation to understand what you are dealing with and whether this practice is the right fit.

Q: Do you see patients in person or by video?

A: Both. In-person sessions are conducted at the office on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Video sessions are available on an ongoing basis for patients who prefer them or are not located in New York City.

Q: What if I have already tried treatment and it did not work?

A: Most people who call have already tried something else — a program, a therapist who did not understand the addiction piece, or a doctor who would not engage beyond medication. That experience is common and it is part of what this practice is designed to address differently.

Take the First Step

If any of this resonates, I'd welcome the chance to speak with you. The first conversation is free, completely confidential, and there is no obligation of any kind. Just a conversation.

Call me directly: (646) 418-7077