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Who created WILD 5?
We are Dr. Saundra Jain and Dr. Rakesh Jain, the creators of WILD 5. We are a married couple who have more than 70 years of combined experience working in the mental health field. Saundra is a psychotherapist, and Rakesh is a psychiatrist.
Traditionally, good health has meant the absence of disease, and healthcare has focused on diagnosing and treating illness. If you weren't sick, you were considered healthy.
The World Health Organization broadened our understanding of health by saying that health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, rather than just the absence of disease. While being free of illness is good, the best state of health combines both the absence of illness and the presence of wellness.
Our interest in helping people enhance their wellness led to the creation of WILD 5. WILD is an acronym standing for Wellness Interventions for Life’s Demands. The 5 in WILD 5 represents the program’s five wellness elements — exercise, mindfulness, sleep, social connectedness, and nutrition.
We’re so excited to have you join us on this proven path to wellness. We wish you all the best as you begin your WILD 5 journey.
Saundra Jain, MA, PsyD, LPC
Saundra Jain, MA, PsyD, LPC is an Adjunct Clinical Affiliate for the School of Nursing at The University of Texas at Austin. She is focused on wellness and the impact of positive psychology on client outcomes. Years of clinical practice and dealing with life’s ups and downs has convinced her that wellness-enhancing practices are all essential wellness elements. In 1992, she launched a private practice of psychotherapy where she currently provides services for a wide range of mental health issues.
Dr. Jain is co-author of a recent book titled, The Science and Practice of Wellness: Interventions for Happiness, Enthusiasm, Resilience, and Optimism (HERO) and cocreator of the Psychedelics and Wellness Survey (PAWS) exploring the intersect between psychedelics and wellness. She is the co-creator of a novel and extremely well received interactive program addressing the challenges of dealing with psychiatric co-morbidities using psychiatric scales and screeners. She has been instrumental in developing several other innovative tools/programs to fill current gaps in this area. She serves as a member of the Psych Congress Steering Committee providing direction regarding educational gaps/needs for mental health practitioners, and Sana Symposium providing psychedelics education for mental health and addiction professionals.
Dr. Jain obtained her Masters degree from the University of Houston–Clear Lake and a Doctoral degree from Southern California University for Professional Studies; she is a Licensed Professional Counselor. She demonstrated her professional versatility by obtaining an MBA from Texas Woman’s University. She has extensive clinical training in multiple sites, covering the gamut of childhood, adolescent and adult experiences in both the private and the public sector. She was selected for a Postgraduate Clinical Fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas where she trained in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH
Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH is a Clinical Professor in the department of Psychiatry, at the Texas Tech University School of Medicine – Permian Basin and is in private practice in Austin, Texas.
Dr. Jain has been involved in well over a hundred research projects studying the effects of medications on short-term and long-term treatment of depression, anxiety, pain/mood overlap disorders, ADHD, and psychosis in adult and child/adolescent populations. He has presented at the World Psychiatric Congress. He is the author of fifty-five articles published in various journals and magazines, such as Journal of Psychiatric Research, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, among others, and has presented over twenty- five original research posters at various meetings such as the APA, ACNP, AACAP, US Psychiatric Congress, etc. He has co-authored seven books that range from patient education, to cutting edge neurobiologic findings in psychiatry and mental health. He is co-author of a recent book titled, The Science and Practice of Wellness: Interventions for Happiness, Enthusiasm, Resilience, and Optimism (HERO).
He serves on several Advisory Boards focusing on drug development and disease state education. He was also recently the Chair of the US Psychiatric Congress, held in Las Vegas, and for several years has served as a member of the Steering Committee for US Psychiatric Annual Congress. He is a recipient of “Public Citizen of the Year” award from the National Association of Social Workers, Gulf Coast Chapter, in recognition of his community and peer education, and championing of mental health issues. He was also recently awarded the “Extra Mile Award” by the school district, in recognition of the service to the children of the school district, and consultation to the teachers and counselors. At a U.S. Psychiatric Congress, he was the recipient of “Teacher of the Year Award.”
He attended medical school at the University of Calcutta in India and graduated from the University of Texas School of Public Health in 1987 with a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree. He served a three-year residency in Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He followed that by obtaining further specialty training, by undergoing a two-year fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition, Dr. Jain completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Research Psychiatry at the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute, in Houston. He was awarded the “National Research Service Award” for the support of this postdoctoral fellowship.