CHARLIE SHAFFER, MD
Introduction
Dr. Charlie Shaffer is a psychiatrist with extensive experience helping young adults with suicidal behaviors and other complex mental health conditions. He is the former Unit Chief of 5 North, a specialized academic ward at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital’s Westchester campus focused on the treatment of college age patients with acute and severe psychiatric illness. In this role, Dr. Shaffer led a multidisciplinary team focused on providing careful diagnostic assessment and treatment planning with an emphasis on family involvement.
Dr. Shaffer continues to be actively involved at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine. He serves on the executive committee of NYP’s Center for Youth Mental Health, where he contributes to clinical and programmatic initiatives aimed at improving care for adolescents and young adults. He also remains on faculty at Weill Cornell, overseeing the 2nd year personality disorders curriculum for psychiatry residents and supervising in the psychopharmacology clinic.
Education
Dr. Shaffer completed his residency at the Payne Whitney Department of Psychiatry at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine, where he served as chief resident and received the APA Resident Recognition Award. During training, he helped establish and run the Ketamine Infusion Service for inpatients with treatment-refractory depression. He also completed advanced psychotherapy training at the Personality Disorders Institute. Following residency, Dr. Shaffer remained at Weill Cornell as an inpatient psychiatrist while continuing his role on the Ketamine Service.
Dr. Shaffer grew up in Manhattan and attended the Collegiate School. He earned his undergraduate degree in Modern History from Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. He later completed a post-baccalaureate program at Columbia University before attending medical school at Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons.
Practice
Today Dr. Shaffer works in private practice, seeing patients in his Manhattan office or via Zoom. Using a combination of psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, Dr. Shaffer primarily treats patients with mood, anxiety and personality disorders. He also has experience in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Many patients come to Dr. Shaffer without any specific diagnosis, but rather with difficulties such as self-defeating behavior, patterns of avoidance, relationship issues, “failure to launch”, problems at work or school, issues with dependency, grief and life transitions. Sometimes these challenges are associated with psychiatric or physical symptoms including anxiety, sleep disturbance, poor concentration or even suicidal thoughts. In these cases, Dr. Shaffer performs a careful and open-minded evaluation over the course of several meetings, with a focus on accurate diagnosis and collaborative treatment planning.
While Dr. Shaffer treats adult patients of all ages, he has particular expertise in working with young adults, including college students living away from home. Family involvement is often crucial in these cases, and Dr. Shaffer works to maintain this while respecting patient confidentiality.
Dr. Shaffer does not participate in insurance plans, but he assists patients with out-of-network reimbursement and offers a sliding scale when appropriate.
CONTACT
122 East 42nd st – Suite 3200
New York, NY 10168
646.494.2898
cwshaffermd@gmail.com