Shariq Refai, MD, MBA is a board-certified psychiatrist based in Jacksonville, Florida. He is the founder of the Shrink Network and of shrinkMD, an independent multistate telepsychiatry practice. He also created the Unstuck app and the shrinQ program, and he writes books that translate psychiatry into plain language.
His path into psychiatry
Before medical school, Dr. Refai worked nights as a psychiatric technician while studying at the University of North Florida. He has said that experience taught him early that mental illness does not sort people by income, status, or background. He went on to medical school at St. George's University School of Medicine, completed residency training at the University of Hawaii and at John Peter Smith Hospital, and earned an MBA from Duke University.
What he works on
His clinical and writing work centers on anxiety, overthinking, panic, rumination, and emotional awareness. The thread through all of it is a single goal: to make psychiatry understandable without making it less accurate. He has said that mental suffering is often made worse by shame, by misunderstanding, and by systems that quietly convince people the problem is simply them. His work is an effort to change that conversation.
Credentials
Dr. Refai is a board-certified psychiatrist, certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He holds a medical degree from St. George's University School of Medicine, completed residency training at the University of Hawaii and at John Peter Smith Hospital, and holds an MBA from Duke University. He also holds certificates of training in electroconvulsive therapy and in obesity medicine from Columbia University.
Verifiable identifiers: ORCID 0009-0009-1090-4373 and Wikidata Q139822307.
Books
Dr. Refai is the author of three forthcoming books for the general public: Your Mind Is Full of Sh*t, its companion Workbook, and The Havoc in Your Head. They are published by shrinkMD Publishing, LLC. You can read more about them at shariqrefai.com/books.
A note on how the network is connected
The Shrink Network was founded by Dr. Refai. The properties it links to, including shrinkMD, the Unstuck app, the shrinQ program, and his books, were created by Dr. Refai or by companies he owns, and he has a financial interest in them. The network links to them because they are his work, and it says so plainly. ShrinkNetwork.com itself sells nothing, runs no ads, and earns no commission or referral fee from any link.
For media or speaking inquiries, see shariqrefai.com.