Peter Berndt, M.D., brings a lifetime of experience – as a physician and psychiatrist – to his current work with individuals, companies, and organizations.

Dr. Berndt was a family physician for 18 years, where he did all the things a family physician did in those times – everything from seeing patients in the office… to house-calls… to delivering several hundred babies over the course of his career.

“Over the years, I saw more and more clearly how stress affected people and their health,” Dr. Berndt says. “I had an associate – another physician – who dragged me to a workshop given by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis in Chicago. At first, I was very skeptical, but became immediately impressed by what I saw being done to relieve physical illness with psychological means. Doing so seemed much more interesting than giving pills only. I began using hypnosis for conditioning for childbirth, migraine headaches, asthma, and pain syndromes… and was astonished by the results. I got more and more referrals so that eventually all I did was psychotherapy and hypnosis.”

Dr. Berndt then chose to do post-graduate work in psychiatry and psychology – a natural progression, given his experience over the years.

“I think that working in psychiatry is the most interesting field in medicine. To re-educate patients in more healthy behaviors and thinking patterns and to try to liberate the healthy person within every patient is extremely gratifying,” Dr. Berndt says. “The process of psychotherapy is very challenging and demanding, requiring a variety of skills: the ability to read a patient, empathy, verbal skills, and the ability to be supportive as well as insightful. The trust that my patients give me is the greatest gift anyone could receive.”

Patients describe Dr. Berndt as sincere, insightful, and experienced – and remark that they can see that he truly cares about their well-being.

Dr. Berndt is married to artist Joanne Neal-Berndt; he is also an artist himself.