About Elescend
About S Dina Wang-Kraus, MD
I am a Board-Certified Adult Psychiatrist. I trained at Johns Hopkins and Stanford University in General Adult Psychiatry. I specialize in the treatment of relationship struggles, grief, trauma, life transitions, and have unique training in women’s mental health and breastfeeding medicine. As a native of California, I have been practicing in the Bay Area since 2016.
I am a Psychotherapist with extensive training in multiple types of psychotherapies, including psychodynamic/psychoanalytic psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. I am currently a candidate psychoanalyst at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis.
As a cultural psychiatrist, I am fluent in Mandarin Chinese. I am also a practicing Couples and Family Therapist, undergoing my training with The Gottman Institute.
I am a former Stanford University Clinical Assistant Professor and one of the physicians and perinatal-perimenopausal reproductive psychiatrists in the Women's Wellness Clinic. Currently, I continue to support and mentor the Stanford Psychiatry Residents, Fellows, and Medical Students, and bridge outreach for various community partners.
When I am not in the clinic or the classroom, I love hiking with my family, painting landscapes, baking in the kitchen (macarons are my specialty), training in martial arts, and watching stand-up comedy.
Dr. S Dina Wang-Kraus, M.D.
Board-Certified Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist.
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/她
The kind of treatment you need and the care you deserve.
Education and Training
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Subspecializing in Systems Neuroscience
Graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa
Clinical research was centered upon Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Neuro-Oncology
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Graduated top of class with Honors and Distinction
Medical research was centered upon collaboration with the CDC, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, and the Palo Alto Unified School District in designing support programs to address mental health barriers and suicide prevention in teens and adolescents
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Special training in cultural psychiatry and in women’s mental health
Tenure as Chief in 2019-2020 with unique focus on Diversity and Physician Wellness
Clinical research was centered upon studying and designing support programs to address the psychological distress experienced by working physician mothers during pregnancy, the postpartum period, and parenting of early childhood
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Stanford University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Women’s Wellness Clinic (2018 - 2022)
Certified by Postpartum Support International in Perinatal and Perimenopausal Mental Health Treatment (2021 - present)
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Palo Alto Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program (PAPPTP, 2018)
American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA, APSA) Fellowship Program (2019 - 2020)
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis - Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program (SFCP, 2024 -present)
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The Gottman Institute (2021)
Licensure and Certification
I am licensed to practice medicine by the California State Medical Board (MBC) and am Board-Certified in Adult Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN).
Areas of Specialty
Anxiety Disorders/Social Anxiety
Burnout & Recovery
Depression & Mood Disorders
Gender & Sexual Identity Exploration
LGBTQ+ Mental Health
Panic Attacks and Disorders
Perinatal Reproductive Psychiatry
Premenstrual Mood Disorders
Fertility Treatments
Pregnancy
Postpartum Healing
Breastfeeding Medicine
Perimenopause/Menopause
Parenting & Life Transitions
Work & School Satisfaction
Grief & Loss
Relationship Struggles
Conflict Resolution
Stress Reduction & Mindfulness
Psychotherapy Specialty
I am uniquely trained in various types of therapies:
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This is a skills-based, problem-focused type of therapy that is goal-oriented and structured. We often work on one or two main skills while in session, and then you’ll continue to practice in between sessions. The goal of the skills is to reduce the distress you experience from the problems we are targeting.
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This is an experiential, exploratory type of therapy in which we look at your life’s story, and how this informs how you experience and understand the world, now - how you form relationships with others and, even, with yourself. By learning to understand yourself better, you can choose how to better shape the next chapter of your life’s story.
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This is a therapy that focuses on how life transitions (such as pregnancy, parenthood, a new job, or loss) can impact your sense of self (your identity) and your role in your relationship. Such life transitions can create role transitions and interpersonal role disputes (social conflicts of needs). Together, we can work through role negotiations and how to create boundaries that address your needs and your desires.
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This is a type of therapy that primarily focuses on providing emotional support, encouragement, and validation during difficult life circumstances or psychological challenges. We talk about your feelings, concerns, and any problems you are facing in a safe, nonjudgmental environment.
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This therapy focuses on growing a conscious awareness of the present moment, with an openness and non-judgmental perspective about the experience. It is often coupled with other types of therapy, such as cognitive behavior therapy. Mindfulness therapy aims to increase your awareness of the thoughts, feelings, and actions that hinder your progress. When you are better able to do that, you can engage with those aspects of yourself, learn to tweak your language, and choose how to better respond.
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All relationships experience difficulties from time to time.
This type of therapy focuses on communication, coping skills, constructive problem-solving, as well as ways to build trust, nurture bonding and intimacy, and strengthen healthy relationships in a family system.
Here’s how the process works…
Step 1
Request
Request for an appointment via the Secure Portal by navigating to the Prospective Patient page
Step 2
Consultation
You will receive an email or phone call to schedule a consultation visit, during which we will explore what brings you to connect for care and if we might be a good fit to work together. We can plan for next steps.
Step 3
Assessment & Treatment
After a comprehensive assessment, you and I will discuss initial impressions and create a thoughtful and individualized treatment plan that centers around what’s most important to you.
Sunshine Act
Illuminating Financial Relationships in Healthcare for Public Awareness
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Open Payments is a national transparency program that collects and publishes information about financial relationships between drug and medical device companies (referred to as "reporting entities") and certain health care providers (referred to as "covered recipients"). These relationships may involve payments to providers for things including but not limited to research, meals, travel, gifts or speaking fees.
One of the ways that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides data to the public is through this search tool, which allows the public to search for covered recipients receiving payments, as well as reporting entities that have made payments. The purpose of the program is to provide the public with a more transparent health care system. All information available on the Open Payments database is open to personal interpretation and if there are questions about what the data means, patients and their advocates should speak directly to the health care provider for a better understanding.
For informational purposes only, a link to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments web page is provided here. The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires that detailed information about payment and other payments of value worth over ten dollars ($10) from manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologics to physicians and teaching hospitals be made available to the public.
