Wellness psychiatry is a new approach that brings clients into contact with their own innate wellness and our natural tendency for healing. The focus is on what is right with us and on building on our strengths rather than only being absorbed with what is wrong.

Aleksandra Wirga, MD and Mariusz Wirga, MD are married physicians who are highly-skilled and compassionate. As residents in pathology, studying the biology and immunology of cancer, they realized that while all medical diagnoses and treatments were focused on addressing physical aspects of the disease, patients and families were also experiencing significant emotional distress. In 1988, they decided to apply their earlier study of mind-body medicine and psychoneuroimmunology to the establishment of a psycho-oncology intervention program in their native Poland, eventually delivering help to over 600 patients and their family members. Inspired by the work of Dr. O. Carl Simonton, a radiation oncologist and the pioneer of psycho-oncology, the Wirgas soon achieved impressive results with their patients and quickly became recognized experts in the field.

After coming to the United States in 1993, they trained with some of the world leaders in cognitive-behavior therapy and honed their skills and practice. Both are Board Certified Psychiatrists.

They both trained extensively with the leaders and pioneers in the fields of cognitive-behavior therapy, psycho-oncology, mindfulness, stress management, and cultivating wellbeing. His mentors and teachers include Albert Ellis, Maxie C. Maultsby, Jr, O. Carl Simonton, Marsha Linehan, David Burns, and Peter Fenner. They are both Master Trainers and Supervisors in Rational Behavior Therapy. Mariusz is is a Level 3 Advanced TEAM CBT Therapist certified by the Feeling Good Institute.

In 2003 they moved to Long Beach, California and a few years later Aleksandra established a private psychiatric practice that Mariusz later joined.

Aleksandra serves as a Medical Director at the Ocean View Adult Psychiatric Hospital – a 36-bed voluntary psychiatric health facility that since 2010 has been dedicated to treating individuals with psychiatric illnesses in need of intensive inpatient services. Ocean View provides a unique option for adults experiencing acute psychiatric symptoms to access quality psychiatric care in a voluntary setting with private rooms in the greater Long Beach area.

Mariusz serves as the Medical Director of Psychosocial Oncology at the MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute, and as a Chair of the Psychiatry Department at the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. He is also on the Board of Advisors for the National Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists and served as the Medical Director of the Simonton Cancer Center after Dr. Simonton’s death. In 2004, Mariusz and Aleksandra introduced Beat the Odds® – A Cancer Survivorship Program in Long Beach, a course consisting of 10 classes teaching how to effectively deal with different aspects of cancer and its treatment.

Mariusz co-authored (together with Dr. Maxie C. Maultsby Jr. and Michael DeBernardi) the upcoming book “ABC of Your Emotions” (with over 200 cartoon-like illustrations and 250 pages). The book explains how emotions work, how to manage them, handle interpersonal conflict, achieve goals, protect your life and health, and feel the way you want to feel. Mariusz is particularly interested in using the newest technologies in a user-friendly way. He is currently involved in developing a multiplatform program for cancer patients and their families that includes interactive engagement in the therapeutic process using smartphones, videos, videoconferencing, and Virtual Reality.
His publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mariusz-Wirga

Mariusz and Aleksandra lecture and teach workshops in cognitive-behavioral medicine and psycho-oncology internationally. Their next program is intensive 4-day training in TEAM CBT on August 18-21 in Warsaw, Poland (www.TEAMcbt.eu).