Simon Riccardi-Zhu, MD

Dr. Simon Ning Riccardi-Zhu is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist who provides compassionate, thoughtful, and individualized care. Curious and attentive by nature, Dr. Riccardi-Zhu strives to understand each client as a whole, complex person rather than simply a collection of symptoms or diagnoses. He values building meaningful, collaborative relationships and creating a welcoming space where clients feel comfortable sharing their experiences, identities, and goals.

Born in Italy to an Italian mother and Chinese father, Dr. Riccardi-Zhu grew up in New York City while maintaining strong connections to both Italy and China. He attended an international, multilingual school and was immersed from an early age in different languages, cultures, and ways of understanding the world. This multicultural upbringing shaped his curiosity about people's life stories, formative experiences, and the cultural and intergenerational influences that contribute to who they are. It also reinforced his belief that there is rarely only one way to understand the complexities of human experience.

Dr. Riccardi-Zhu earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Economics from Swarthmore College and completed a Certificate in Premedical Sciences at Columbia University. He received his medical degree from the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and completed his psychiatry residency at the University of California, Irvine. He has also pursued specialized training through the Center for Prolonged Grief at Columbia University, earning a Certificate in Prolonged Grief Psychotherapy.

His background in the humanities and social sciences played an important role in drawing him to psychiatry. Dr. Riccardi-Zhu was fascinated by a field that could bring together different ways of understanding people—from the biology of the brain to relationships, culture, spirituality, identity, and questions of meaning and purpose. Most importantly, psychiatry offered him the opportunity to form deep, meaningful relationships with people from all walks of life and support them through periods of challenge, change, and growth.

Dr. Riccardi-Zhu takes a comprehensive, holistic, and collaborative approach to care. He is deeply interested in each client's life story and considers the many factors that may influence mental health, including relationships, physical well-being, lifestyle, cultural background, personal values, and past experiences. He incorporates evidence-based psychotherapy and lifestyle-focused approaches while working collaboratively with clients to develop care that reflects their individual needs and goals.

What continues to inspire Dr. Riccardi-Zhu is that there is always more to learn—about a person, about psychiatry, and about the human experience itself. He finds it deeply rewarding to invest in clients' well-being and support them as they work toward meaningful goals. He is committed to providing culturally sensitive and LGBTQ+-affirming care and to creating an inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds and identities feel respected and understood.

Outside of work, Dr. Riccardi-Zhu loves spending time in nature through hiking, camping, cycling, running, and kayaking. He is also passionate about learning languages and especially enjoys how language can create opportunities to connect with people from different backgrounds while offering a deeper understanding of their culture and history.