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Paul R. Linde, MD

Medical Director of Psychiatry and Collaborative Care

Paul R. Linde, MD

Dr. Paul Linde is a board-certified general adult psychiatrist with more than 30 years of clinical experience. He is the Medical Director for Psychiatry and Collaborative Care at Ria Health and is also a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCSF School of Medicine. He has expertise in treating substance use disorders and has specialized as a consultant to non-psychiatric physicians in both emergency departments and outpatient clinics. In addition, he is the author of two narrative nonfiction books about psychiatry in Africa and the ER, respectively, as well as creator and host of a podcast entitled “Hippie Docs 2.0: Re-Humanizing Medicine”.

After receiving his Medical Doctorate at University of Minnesota, Dr. Linde began his career as a psychiatric intern and resident at UCSF. He steadily received faculty promotions at this institution, teaching at the School of Medicine for several decades, and retiring with the title of Clinical Professor Emeritus in Psychiatry in 2020.

At the same time, Dr. Linde pursued a multi-decade career in emergency psychiatric services. From 1989 to 2016, he worked on the frontlines in psychiatric ERs, jails, and other high pressure environments. His memoir on the subject, “Danger to Self: On the Front Line With an ER Psychiatrist” detailed the gritty day-to-day details of this challenging work.

From 1994 to 1995, Dr. Linde also taught and worked as a clinical psychiatrist in Zimbabwe. His 2002 book, “Of Spirits and Madness: An American Psychiatrist in Africa,” chronicled the challenges of cross-cultural psychiatric care, and different cultural interpretations of mental illness. Dr. Linde also contributed to several chapters of the volume “Essentials of Clinical Psychiatry for Sub-Saharan Africa.”

Dr. Linde has decades of experience helping those with substance use disorders, particularly those with a dual diagnosis. Aside from his clinical work, he was Medical Director of the Stonewall Project in San Francisco from 2007 to 2013, providing harm reduction based care for gay men and trans people struggling with drug addiction.

With his decades of emergency care experience, numerous publications, and broad knowledge of his field, Ria Health is thrilled to have Paul R. Linde on board as a clinical supervisor and strategic planning consultant.

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