Eric Rafla-Yuan, MD
Psychiatrist
Eric Rafla-Yuan, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist, educator, researcher, and health policy expert. He is Chief Financial Officer for the Social Determinants of Health Network, a multi-disciplinary worldwide research network which aims to better define, assess, understand, and intervene on the social determinants of health, and serves as a contributing editor for the journal Psychiatric Services where his research focuses on policy drivers of health outcomes. He is the first person to write about 988 and clinical crisis services in a major medical journal and his work is published in popular media as well as the New England Journal of Medicine and Health Affairs. He has been interviewed by the New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post, ABC, NBC, Politico, and others.
Dr. Rafla-Yuan continues to be recognized nationally for his work and leadership, serving as the chair of American Psychiatric Association Caucus on the Social Determinants of Mental Health. He is Vice President of AGLP: The Association of LGBTQ+ Psychiatrists, the oldest LGBT professional organization in the United States. He holds positions on the board of directors of the San Diego County Medical Society and San Diego County Psychiatric Society, and is a delegate for the California Medical Association. He also serves on the board of the Miles Hall Foundation, which advocates for alternatives to criminalization for mental health emergencies, and is launching a first-in-the-nation, cost-free therapy program for families who have lost loved ones with mental illness to police violence.
He completed his Bachelor’s degree with latin and program honors at Chapman University and is a graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He completed psychiatry residency training at the University of California San Diego, where he served as chief resident and formed the residency program’s first diversity committee, which he then led for a number of years as faculty. In addition to being an invited lecturer and grand rounds speaker across the country, Dr. Rafla-Yuan has trained and supervised medical students and resident physicians, registered nurses and nurse practitioners, pharmacists, social workers, and other mental health professionals.
As a board certified psychiatrist, Dr. Rafla-Yuan specializes in emergency psychiatric response and stabilization, working with individuals who live with severe mental illness or who are experiencing both medical and psychiatric conditions, and helping those who are recovering from trauma. He utilizes a mentalization-based treatment (MBT) approach and believes that being patient-centered and trauma-informed is the most effective way to meet patients wherever they are.
In addition to BrightQuest, Dr. Rafla-Yuan has experience in a wide range of clinical settings, including academic medical center hospitals and clinics, residential treatment programs, public mental health services and community clinics, federally qualified health centers (FQHC), assertive community treatment (ACT) teams, and the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital system. He is on the medical staff of the San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital and the San Diego VA Medical Center.
