Neeru Kumar, MD

About Dr. Kumar

Washington Township Medical Foundation (WTMF) is delighted to welcome board-certified and fellowship-trained psychiatrist Neeru Kumar, MD. For over two decades, Dr. Kumar has been treating a wide-range of psychiatric conditions, including mood, bipolar, and adjustment disorders, and anxiety and depression. She has specialized training in treating mental health issues in older patients, and patients who are pregnant or postnatal.

Dr. Kumar, who in addition to English speaks Hindi and Urdu, was born and raised in Hyderabad, India. She comes from a family of doctors who encouraged her medical career. She explains that their dedication to their patients and to their community inspired her from a young age. “My uncle in particular was a huge influence on me. He had the biggest heart. He was a neurologist who always had time for his patients. He mentored me and showed me the meaning of service.”

After completing medical school at Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad, Dr. Kumar came to the United States for her residency and fellowship studies. She completed her psychiatry residency in New York at Maimonides Medical Center, followed by a clinical geriatric psychiatry fellowship at Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University.

One of the constants in Dr. Kumar’s practice has been the stigmatization of mental health. “I like to reframe patients’ misunderstandings about mental illness,” she says. “I remind my patients that it is not a weakness to suffer from a mental disorder. I explain that many emotional distresses have a biological basis. A person’s body and mind are, of course, connected. I want to lower their fear of their illness.”

Dr. Kumar says that one of the more rewarding aspects of her work is its wider impact beyond the patient. “What I have learned over the years is that when one member of a family is suffering from mental illness, it can have an adverse effect on the mental health of the rest of the family. Once my patient starts to improve, I often see that it has a positive effect on the rest of the family. Helping one patient can strengthen marriages, relations between parents and children, and other family dynamics.”

“In the face of patients’ environmental, situational, and medical challenges, my role is to provide hope and help. I do that by listening to them, and hearing what they are saying about their symptoms and their life story. That way, my patients become active partners in the diagnostic process.” She adds, “What is closest to my heart is seeing my patients improve.”

Dr. Kumar lives in Fremont with her husband, who is also a physician.