Mindful Psychiatry - Our Story

Sharon Katz offers over 40 years of clinical experience in treating psychiatric patients in each session. Her approach has always been patient centered, with various psychiatric models or techniques to enable patient’s recovery. Trained originally as a Child and Adolescent

Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist (Penn Nursing 1987), followed by certification as a Marriage and Family Therapist (Family Institute of Philadelphia 1992) and eventually Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (Penn Nursing 2010), she integrates psychotherapy into every psychiatric session. During her clinical legacy, she created and published a psychiatric nursing model she is recreating in clinical practice called MINDFUL CARE. This model allows various contributing mental health issues to be identified and worked through to achieve a healthier mental balance.

Sharon has worked with patients of all psychiatric diagnosis’ with specialty in mood disorders (Bipolar and Major Depression primarily), anxiety disorders (OCD, PTSD and Generalized anxiety and panic disorders), developmental disabilities (autism and family system adaptation), and addictions (substance use, sexual). 

Facilitating integration of psychotherapy and medication, she has been trained and supervised by different psychiatrists over the years to also integrate a holistic approach that also includes neuromodulation with psychotherapy, plant medicine, TMS, vitamins and supplements into treatment, enabling a more complete recovery or remission. Her expertise in traditional psychiatric medications have been utilized as a speaker for several pharmaceutical companies over the past 15 years.

She has been a national leader and speaker for Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners, having owned a clinical practice for 30 years, as well as served on several standing insurance or professional boards to integrate real clinical experience into policy and professional development.

Mindful Care or Mindful Psychiatry both represent Sharon’s dream practice of providing a modern and balanced model for patients to heal and grow with.

MINDFUL CARE model is a pneumonic identifying obstacle within mental illness that need to be

addressed to achieve mental health:

M=Identifies Medical and Mental Health traits

I=Identity of the patient and their potential development.

N=Nutrition and Nurturing

D=Developmental age and stage

F=Family of Origin and genetics

U=Unconscious Self

L= Obstacles to Life

CARE describes the care planning and treatment:

C=Collaboration with family, primary care and specialists

A=Adaptation tools: Psychotherapy, Medications, Psychedelics and TMS

R=Recovery model

E=Education of patient and family regarding illness, and adaptation.

Dr. Steven A. Katz is a lifelong resident of Montgomery County and a graduate of Upper Dublin High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Science from Penn State University in 1982 and his Doctor of Medicine from Jefferson Medical College in 1984. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Mercy Catholic Medical Center in Darby and has been board-certified in Internal Medicine since 1987.

Since 1986, Dr. Katz has focused exclusively on Emergency Medicine, practicing throughout the Tri-State area. From 1998 to 2005, he served as Chair of the Emergency Department at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, NJ. He later held ED Chair positions at Central Montgomery Medical Center (now Abington Lansdale Hospital), Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, and Salem Memorial Hospital in Salem, NJ. He has practiced at Chestnut Hill Hospital and Holy Redeemer Medical Center, however, in 2020, he retired from Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Katz has had a long-standing interest in the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of cannabis. Following the passage of Pennsylvania's Act 16 in 2016, he began integrating this knowledge into his medical practice to enhance patient care and quality of life.

Beyond his clinical work, Dr. Katz is deeply committed to philanthropy. He has been actively involved with the Angelman Syndrome Foundation, a nonprofit supporting individuals with a rare neurodevelopmental disorder. He served as the national President from 1999 to 2003 and completed two eight-year terms on the Board of Directors. He currently serves on the ASF Scientific Advisory Committee. In recognition of his contributions, he received the Harry and Audrey Angelman Award for Meritorious Service in 2007.

In 2008, Dr. Katz was honored with the EmCare Commitment to Caring Award.