About Dr. Welby
Dr. Melissa Welby is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist passionate about improving people’s mental health, whether through one-on-one treatment, writing, advocating, or speaking to groups. She is an experienced, caring, and capable psychiatrist who believes there is no true health without mental health.
Psychiatrist in private practice:
An accurate diagnostician and skilled therapist with extensive knowledge of mental health treatments, Dr. Welby provides personalized treatment using effective, evidence-based therapies. She believes care is optimized when there’s a partnership between the patient and the physician and will provide the education needed to empower people to participate in all treatment related decisions.
Appointments take place in her Milford, CT office or remotely to patients throughout CT via telepsychiatry. Her specialties include treating depression, anxiety, adult attention deficit disorder, bipolar disorder, and college mental health.
Healthcare writer and Social Media expert:
Dr. Welby’s goal is to help the world take charge of their mental health by making the evidence-based psychiatry and mental health information available to anyone who needs it. Her blog empowers readers by providing free education and the tools required for action and change.
She is active on social media countering rampant medical misinformation and reducing stigma through education and improved understanding of mental illness.
She was honored by LinkedIn, who awarded her with a “Top Voice” title after they named her a top 10 voice in healthcare. Despite being a platform made for business, her articles focused on mental health, suicide prevention, and wellness strategies have been read by up to 40K readers.
As a social media expert at the Harvard Writing, Publishing, and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals conference, Dr. Welby taught other physicians how to effectively harness the power of social media.
Mental health and physician advocate:
Dr. Welby is active in her medical societies taking leadership roles so she can better advocate for her patients and her profession. She was President of the Connecticut Psychiatric Society (2017-2018) and is current President of the Fairfield/Litchfield County Psychiatric Society (2014-present). She is active in the Legislative Advocacy Group and the Membership Committee.
In 2018, Dr. Welby successfully pushed to change the laws in Connecticut surrounding telepsychiatry. She helped the Connecticut Psychiatric Society draft and submit a bill and testified in support of that bill. This law passed and improved access to psychiatric care in Connecticut. Dr. Welby continues to work to protect telepsychiatry. She testified in 2024 and worked with the Connecticut Psychiatric Society to advocate for passage of a telepsychiatry bill that will continue to protect physician and patients rights to remote care.
At the start of the pandemic, the majority of physicians were unfamiliar with how to use telepsychiatry, yet needed to quickly pivot so they could continue to provide care for their patients. Dr. Welby volunteered her time to privately consult and lead groups for CT physicians. She taught many physicians how to implement telepsychiatry and educated on laws and best practices for how to provide remote care.
Dr. Welby works to destigmatize mental illness, address inequalities in insurance coverage, and the harmful policies that increase physician burnout and prevent patients from receiving the care they need, and create safe solutions for shortages in access to psychiatric care.
In 2019 she was honored to receive the Cornelis Boelhower Distinguished Service Award from the Connecticut Psychiatric Society
Physician speaker and educator:
Whether it’s testifying in the legislature, teaching physicians how to use social media to amplify healthcare and contribute to global wellness, or delivering motivating talks to non-medical audiences, private groups, or college students, Dr. Welby connects with her audience.
She has a talent for translating medical information into relatable content meant to inspire action, reduce stigma, and empower individuals to take charge of their health. She loves to talk about the diagnosis and management of adult ADHD. Reach out to inquire about having Dr. Welby speak at your event.
