Dr. Sarit Hovav, M.D., FAPA

Board-Certified Psychiatrist

Board Certified Psychiatrist, ABPN | NBPAS

Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (FAPA)

Licensed: CA, NV, FL, IA, KS, NE

Schedule with Dr. Hovav

About Dr. Sarit Hovav

Dr. Sarit Hovav, M.D., FAPA is a board-certified psychiatrist, neuroscience researcher, and the founder of Lifetime Insight. She brings together over two decades of clinical experience, an elite research background in brain stimulation and neuroimaging at UCLA, and a genuine passion for the patients whose conditions are most complex and most frequently undertreated: those with bipolar disorder, those navigating the peripartum period, and those who have not gotten better with standard care.

Dr. Hovav trained in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York before completing her psychiatry residency at the Creighton University–University of Nebraska Medical Center program. In between, she spent three years as a Postdoctoral Scholar at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior — one of the leading brain research centers in the world — where she conducted and led research in brain stimulation and neuroimaging in mental illness. That scientific foundation shapes everything about how she approaches a patient evaluation today.

She has held national leadership positions in the American Psychiatric Association, served as a speaker and educator on bipolar disorder pharmacology, published peer-reviewed research in journals including Brain Stimulation, Neuropsychopharmacology, and Journal of Psychiatric Research, and contributed to UpToDate — the clinical reference platform used by physicians worldwide.

She founded Lifetime Insight because she believed that the kind of rigorous, personalized psychiatric care she was trained to provide should be accessible to patients wherever they are — not just in the cities where the best psychiatrists happen to practice. Today, she sees patients across California, Nevada, Florida, Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas via secure telehealth, with a particular focus on Southern California and the greater Las Vegas valley.

Medical Education & Training

Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), with Honors
Ross University School of Medicine

Psychiatry Residency
Creighton University – University of Nebraska Medical Center

Internal Medicine Internship
Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York, NY

Postdoctoral Scholar — Brain Stimulation and Neuroimaging in Mental Illness
UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior

K30 Fellow — Graduate Training in Translational Investigation
University of California, Los Angeles

Conditions Dr. Hovav Treats

Dr. Hovav provides comprehensive telehealth psychiatric care for adults across California, Nevada, Florida, Iowa, and Kansas, with particular depth in:

• Bipolar Disorder — Bipolar I, Bipolar II, cyclothymia, and mixed features; Dr. Hovav considers bipolar disorder the most intellectually challenging and clinically rewarding condition she treats. Her research background in mood disorders and her speaker faculty experience with bipolar pharmacology inform an unusually thorough approach to diagnosis and medication management.
• Peripartum & Perinatal Psychiatry — Psychiatric care during pregnancy and the postpartum period, including postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and the complex management of mood disorders in women who are pregnant, newly postpartum, or planning a pregnancy. The intersection of bipolar disorder and the peripartum period requires specialized expertise — and is an area Dr. Hovav finds particularly meaningful.
• Depression — Major depressive disorder, treatment-resistant depression, persistent depressive disorder
• Anxiety Disorders — Generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, OCD
• PTSD & Trauma
• ADHD — Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• Insomnia & Sleep Disorders
• Psychiatric Evaluations — Comprehensive diagnostic evaluations for adults with complex or treatment-resistant presentations

Dr. Hovav has particular expertise in the intersection of mood disorders and the reproductive lifespan — including bipolar disorder in women of childbearing age, peripartum mood episodes, and the challenges of managing psychiatric conditions through pregnancy and the postpartum period.

A Research Career at the Frontier of Brain Science

Before founding Lifetime Insight, Dr. Hovav spent three years at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior — one of the top psychiatric neuroscience research centers in the country — where she conducted and led studies in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), deep brain stimulation (DBS), and neuroimaging in mental illness.

Her research portfolio includes:

• Co-Principal Investigator on multiple multicenter TMS trials — including a Brainsway-funded study of Deep TMS for major depression and a prospective study of TMS maintenance in treatment-resistant depression
• Principal Investigator, fMRI Study of Prefrontal Cortex in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (2010–2012)
• Co-Investigator on the MASTER-PD multicenter rTMS trial for Parkinson's disease (Michael J. Fox Foundation)
• Protocol Developer and Treatment Coordinator for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for OCD using the Reclaim™ device
• Co-PI on a clinical trial of H1-Coil Deep TMS in bipolar depression (Brainsway)

She is the co-author of peer-reviewed publications in Brain Stimulation: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation (2016, 2014), Neuropsychopharmacology (2013), Journal of Psychiatric Research (2014), Psychosomatics (2012), and UpToDate. She has also served as Chair of the Scientific Review Working Group and Device Symposium at the Clinical TMS Society.

This research background is not a credential on a shelf. It shapes how Dr. Hovav approaches every patient who has not responded to standard care — with a scientific understanding of what is happening in the brain, and a broader toolkit than most clinicians carry.

APA Leadership & National Advocacy

Dr. Hovav has been active in the American Psychiatric Association since her residency, rising to lead the national APA Assembly Committee of Resident Fellow Members as its National Chair in 2015–2016 — a position representing psychiatry residents across the country. She went on to serve as Deputy Representative for the International Medical Graduate Caucus and held seats on multiple APA workgroups including Maintenance of Certification and Access to Care.

She also served on the Board of Directors of the APA Political Action Committee (APAPAC) and as Federal Advocacy Coordinator for the APA — work that extended her commitment to psychiatric access and policy beyond the clinic and into the legislative process.

These roles reflect a physician who is not simply treating patients in isolation, but actively engaged in shaping how psychiatric care is structured, accessed, and delivered at a national level.

Professional Highlights

• Founder and Medical Director, Lifetime Insight (2016 – present) — Telehealth psychiatry across CA, NV, FL, IA, and KS
• Medical Director of Behavioral Health, Fremont Health Medical Center
• Staff Psychiatrist, Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines, IA
• CEO, Neuromodulation Consultants, LLC — clinical TMS and neuromodulation practice, Lincoln, NE
• Telehealth Psychiatrist, American Well and Doctor on Demand — among the earliest cohort of telehealth psychiatrists in the field
• AbbVie Speaker Faculty — Vraylar® (2017 – present) — CME speaker and faculty on bipolar disorder pharmacology
• CME Presenter, Psych Congress 2022 — Evolving management in major depressive disorder: smarter choices after unsuccessful first-line treatment
• CME Presenter, South Dakota Psychiatric Association 2018 — Neurotransmission in Bipolar Disorder
• Featured on Sirius XM Doctor Radio
• Published in The Jewish Press — Bipolar Disorder: Biology and Behavior (2017)

Honors & Awards

• Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (FAPA)
• William Sorum Assembly Resident-Fellow Member Award, American Psychiatric Association — recognized in the 60th Convocation of Distinguished Fellows, November 2015
• Patient's Choice Award, Creighton University Psychiatric Clinic, 2016
• M.D. with Honors, Ross University School of Medicine
• Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee Best Presentation Award, Creighton-Nebraska Residency Program, 2015

See Dr. Hovav From Anywhere in California, Nevada, Florida, Iowa, or Kansas

Getting psychiatric care should not require you to take a morning off, find a babysitter, or sit in a waiting room. Dr. Hovav's telehealth appointments happen from wherever you have privacy and a stable connection — your home, your car, wherever works for you.

The American Psychiatric Association has affirmed that telepsychiatry delivers outcomes equivalent to in-person care for the vast majority of psychiatric conditions. Dr. Hovav has been practicing telehealth psychiatry since its earliest days — long before it became standard — and she has built her entire practice around making expert psychiatric care genuinely accessible.

New patients are welcome. No referral is required.

SCHEDULE WITH DR. HOVAV

Most major insurance plans accepted. Appointments available days and evenings.