About Gary G. Kohls, MD

Dr. Gary G. Kohls graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School (Minneapolis) in 1968 and began his medical work serving an internship at St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth. For most of his career, Dr. Kohls worked in the Brainerd Lakes area as a rural, full-service family practice physician. In 1984 he was awarded a Bush Foundation Medical Fellowship, during which he first became interested in studying PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder). In the early 1990s Dr. Kohls worked at a Regional Treatment Center as a physician for psychiatric inpatients and later worked at a psychological services clinic.

In 2000, Dr. Kohls began his independent practice of medicine. His special area of interest was in helping people recognize the connections between physical and emotional symptoms, psychological trauma, brain malnutrition and neurotransmitter/brain chemical depletions. Understanding and teaching the concepts of brain nutrition was critical to his success in helping patients with mental health conditions. For several years, in addition to his private practice, Dr. Kohls taught an upper division course in the Psychology Department at the University of Minnesota Duluth, titled The Science and Psychology of the Mind Body Connection. He was also instrumental in starting a Duluth chapter of the international group MindFreedom.

As a physician, Dr. Kohls was known as a thorough, compassionate physician who always spent ample time with his patients. His interest was in discovering the root causes of his patient's symptoms, working towards prevention and risk reduction. In the past 15 years he immersed himself in the study of the effects of trauma, violence and stress on physical and mental well-being. He studied the links between neurotransmitter depletions and such conditions as depression, insomnia, addictive disorders, eating disorders and fibromyalgia. The toxicity and frequent loss of effectiveness of many anti-depressant drugs led him to new methods of treatment, including the use of more natural and well tolerated amino acids, prescribed on an individualized basis, which replenish the brain's natural anti-depressants. He took seriously the oath that all physicians take: to First Do No Harm.

In December 2008, Dr. Kohls retired from his clinical practice of medicine, but he continues to present lectures and seminars to healthcare professionals and the general public, as well as editing the popular e-newsletter Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter (PPEN).

Dr. Kohls is a past member of the International Society For Traumatic Stress Studies, and a current member of The Midwest Holistic Medical Association, the International Center for the Study of Psychology and Psychiatry, The International Psychohistorical Association and MindFreedom International.