Dr. Cass is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine and author of St. John's Wort: Nature's Blues Buster, Kava: Nature's Answer to Stress, Anxiety, and Insomnia, and All About Herbs. She has been a pioneer in integrating nutritional medicine with psychiatry in her clinical practice. A noted speaker, consultant, and educator in the areas of complementary medicine, psychiatry, and personal growth, her topics include complementary medicine and psychiatry, anti-aging, women's health (including natural hormone therapy), stress reduction, and natural treatments for addictions, anxiety disorders, and depression.

She is also a frequent commentator in newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, and contributor to numerous books and journals. She has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Cosmopolitan, Time Magazine, and People Magazine, among others, and has written for many magazines including "Herbs for Health", "Natural Health", "Let's Live", and "Total Health". She has also appeared on a numerous national radio and TV talk shows, including the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, and The Geraldo Show.

Dr Cass believes that her path to holistic psychiatry began at home: Her father was a caring and conscientious family practitioner, who practiced "integrative medicine" long before the term was coined. Then, after graduating University of Toronto School of Medicine and interning at Los Angeles County-USC, her interest in a more person-oriented and holistic approach to medicine led to a psychiatric residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center/UCLA. She soon realized that the standard "couch and prescription" combination of treatments was incomplete.

In addressing the whole person, it was apparent that fatigue, anxiety, and depression were neither simply psychological problems, nor were they Prozac or Valium "deficiencies". She discovered that there is often a deeper physical or physiological component, a biochemical imbalance that once treated, takes care of the psychological, mental and emotional issues. There are many natural products, from St. John's Wort, and tyrosine, to SAM-e, that can help balance our unique brain chemistry. Of course, there are times when medications are necessary but often, when combined with a natural regimen, the drugs can soon be discontinued.

Dr. Cass' years of experience have yielded the following principles:
1.       Treat the whole person - mind, body, spirit, and environment.
2.       Look first for the deepest root problems beneath any symptoms.
3.       Apply a continuum of treatments, always beginning with the safest, most natural, and most benign.

Dr. Cass describes many of her clinical successes in her best-selling book, St. John's Wort: Nature's Blues Buster. It offers readers complete reader-friendly information on this unique herbal supplement, as well as a variety of other natural remedies.

According to James S. Gordon, MD, author of Manifesto For a New Medicine, and Director and Founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, "Dr. Hyla Cass tells us how and why St. John's wort works, and when it might be helpful. Even more important, she shows us how we can use it as part of an individualized and holistic approach for those of us who suffer from depression."

Best-selling author Earl Mindell calls it "clear, concise easy-to-read." Finally Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series says: "This book provides outstanding, practical information in a warm and friendly style, and reflects the healing quality of Dr. Cass' years of work as a holistic psychiatrist. "

Response to her second book, KAVA: Nature's Answer To Stress, Anxiety And Insomnia (co-written with Terrence McNally) has been equally strong. Janet Zand, N.D., L.Ac., O.M.D. author of Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child, salutes it as "a practical guide to understanding and using a remarkable herb to ameliorate the effects of our stressful lives of the 21st century." Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. best-selling author of Brain Longevity, calls it "a must-read for anyone interested in conquering stress."
She has followed the success of these books with All About St. John's Wort and All About Herbs, The Ginkgo Handbook, The Vitamin C Handbook, and now, Natural Highs.