Mark Leeds, D.O. provides individualized concierge telemedicine for benzodiazepine tapering, psychiatric medication deprescribing, and opioid and alcohol dependence treatment — all from the comfort of your home in Florida.
Medical Experience
Complete Care
Statewide Florida
Medical Management: Available to patients residing in Florida
Dr. Leeds specializes in benzodiazepine tapering, psychiatric medication deprescribing, and the medical treatment of prescribed medication dependence through his concierge telemedicine practice. With a deep understanding of the distinction between physical dependence and addiction, Dr. Leeds provides individualized care that places each patient at the center of all treatment decisions. Recovery coaching and counseling are integrated into your treatment plan, and all protocols follow the Ashton Manual, Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines, The Sinclair Method, and other evidence-based approaches.
Medical support for safe, gradual discontinuation of benzodiazepines and z-drugs (Ambien, Lunesta) following evidence-based protocols. Dr. Leeds is experienced with benzodiazepine-induced neurological dysfunction (BIND), protracted withdrawal, and acute withdrawal syndromes. Protocols include hyperbolic tapers, liquid tapers, crossover tapering strategies, and individualized schedules designed around your body's healing timeline.
Ashton Manual
Maudsley Guidelines
Liquid Tapers
Hyperbolic Tapers
BIND Support
Withdrawal Support
Evidence-based treatment using buprenorphine products including Suboxone, Sublocade, and Brixadi, with specialized protocols for fentanyl transitions and individualized dosing strategies that respect patient goals for either maintenance or gradual tapering. These approaches include medically-supervised at-home detox and adjunct medications tailored to individual patterns of use and personal recovery goals. For many patients, concierge treatment is the ideal solution: you get to live at home and continue with your daily life while receiving expert medical care in-office or by telemedicine.
Suboxone
Sublocade
At-Home Detox
Fentanyl Protocols
Naltrexone
Specialized care for patients experiencing dependence on psychiatric medications, antidepressants, and other prescribed substances, with emphasis on gradual, patient-controlled tapering protocols. As a psychiatric drug tapering specialist in Fort Lauderdale, Dr. Leeds understands the complex neurological effects of long-term psychiatric medication use and provides medically-supervised slow hyperbolic tapers that honor your body's healing process.
Antidepressant Tapering
Antipsychotic Tapering
Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal
Hyperbolic Tapers
Safe Withdrawal
Alcohol use disorder treatment using The Sinclair Method with naltrexone for pharmacological extinction of alcohol cravings. This approach allows gradual reduction in drinking without requiring abstinence as a starting point, and is supported by years of clinical evidence and patient outcomes. Food addiction and dependency issues are also addressed when they are part of a patient's broader pattern of care.
Antidepressant Tapering
Sinclair Method
Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal
Hyperbolic Tapers
Safe Withdrawal
Naltrexone
Harm Reduction
The Ashton Manual, developed by Professor C. Heather Ashton, is considered the gold standard for benzodiazepine tapering worldwide. Dr. Leeds follows this protocol as a foundation for creating individualized benzodiazepine tapering plans in Fort Lauderdale. The Ashton protocol emphasizes slow, gradual dose reductions that allow the nervous system to adapt at each step, minimizing withdrawal symptoms and supporting long-term success.
Key elements of the Ashton method taper approach used in our Fort Lauderdale practice include:
Dr. Leeds is on the medical advisory board for the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and has extensive clinical experience guiding patients through their benzodiazepine taper. Whether you’re tapering from Xanax (alprazolam), Klonopin (clonazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), or Valium (diazepam), our Fort Lauderdale practice provides the specialized medical oversight your taper requires.
Tapering psychiatric medications requires specialized medical knowledge that goes beyond what most physicians receive in standard training. As a psychiatric drug tapering specialist in Fort Lauderdale, Dr. Leeds provides medically-supervised withdrawal support for patients who want to safely discontinue antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs), antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and other psychiatric medications.
Many patients experience significant psychiatric drug withdrawal symptoms when attempting to stop these medications, including brain zaps, emotional instability, insomnia, and cognitive difficulties. Our approach to tapering psychiatric medications in Fort Lauderdale includes:
Many patients with prescribed medication dependence have experienced dismissal, inappropriate rapid tapers, or misapplication of addiction treatment models. Dr. Leeds’ practice was built to change that.
You are the expert in your own experience and the ultimate authority on your path toward healing. Treatment decisions are collaborative, with you maintaining control over the pace and process of your care.
Physical dependence on prescribed medications is a medical condition requiring gradual tapering, not traditional addiction treatment paradigms that can cause harm. Dr. Leeds recognizes this critical distinction in every treatment plan.
Direct communication with your physician when you need support, without administrative barriers or delays. Concierge care means you're never dealing with automated phone trees or waiting for callbacks.
Every protocol is grounded in peer-reviewed research and established clinical guidelines including the Ashton Manual and Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines. Medication-assisted recovery is offered on its own terms, not as a second-tier option to abstinence-only programs, and no one-size-fits-all approach is forced on any patient.
“Much respect to Dr. Leeds who help me through my benzo taper. He was always available to answer my text and truly cared about how I was doing physically and emotionally. You are deeply appreciated.”
“Before I found him, I wasted huge amount of money on doctors who misrepresented themselves as being capable to handle the unique taper type of a service I needed… Dr Leeds LEADS you safely in the direction you need with clinical excellence, enormous knowledge, experience… While under his care, I felt truly safe, fully supported from both clinical and a human perspective. He is a rare find.”
“Working with Dr Leeds has not only helped me through my taper process especially when I was so sick, which has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life… I wouldn’t hesitate in contacting Dr Leeds if you are looking for a very compassionate physician who truly cares and keeps his patients safe.”
“Never in my life have I met such an open minded, caring, listening, and knowledgable Dr. for what he does. He is gentle, and takes his time in a way I thought was completely gone from todays medical world… 6/5 stars for the staff Megan and Daisy always answering and being incredible as well.”
Call (954) 776-6226 or email info@drleeds.com to schedule your initial consultation.
A thorough medical evaluation to understand your history, current medications, goals, and determine the safest treatment approach for your situation.
Receive a customized treatment protocol designed around your unique situation, preferences, and pace. You maintain control over every decision.
Direct access to Dr. Leeds throughout your treatment. Adjustments made as your body heals and your needs evolve over time.
Osteopathic Physician • Deprescribing Specialist
Family Medicine
Addiction Medicine
Osteopathic Medicine
25+ Years Experience
Mark Leeds, D.O. is an osteopathic physician with over 26 years of experience in family medicine and over two decades of experience in treating medication and drug dependence and addiction. He graduated from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1996 and completed his residency in Family Medicine at Westchester General Hospital in 1999. He is accepting new patients.
Dr. Leeds has extensive clinical experience with difficult benzodiazepine tapering cases, protracted withdrawal, and BIND (Benzodiazepine-Induced Neurological Dysfunction). His concierge telemedicine practice in Fort Lauderdale specializes in benzodiazepine and psychiatric medication tapering — including antidepressants, antipsychotics, gabapentinoids, and z-drugs — as well as opioid dependence treatment and alcohol use disorder. His practice serves patients who have been underserved by traditional healthcare models — those physically dependent on prescribed medications who need a physician who understands that dependence is not addiction.
Dr. Leeds holds a distinctive clinical perspective: that tapering is the optimal approach for any drug that causes physical dependence, when an established tapering protocol exists. Drawing from the Ashton Manual, Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines, The Sinclair Method, and other evidence-based protocols, this unified tapering philosophy informs every treatment plan. Physical dependence on prescribed medications is a medical condition requiring gradual, patient-directed tapering, not addiction treatment paradigms.
Dr. Leeds serves on the medical advisory board of the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and hosts The Rehab Podcast on the Mental Health News Radio Network, where he interviews experts including physicians, best-selling authors, and filmmakers working in the addiction, recovery, and deprescribing space. His approach prioritizes patient comfort, safety, and autonomy, with treatment often extending over several months depending on the medication and history of use.
“Physical dependence on prescribed medications is a medical condition requiring specialized knowledge, patience, and respect for neurological healing processes.”
Dr. Mark Leeds provides concierge deprescribing and dependence treatment in Fort Lauderdale and throughout South Florida. Through telemedicine, Dr. Leeds serves patients across the entire state of Florida. In-office visits are available at 3290 NE 33rd Street in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County.
Whether you’re searching for a benzo tapering specialist in Fort Lauderdale, a benzodiazepine deprescribing physician in Fort Lauderdale, a benzodiazepine clinic in Fort Lauderdale, or psychiatric drug tapering in Fort Lauderdale, Dr. Leeds’ concierge practice provides the specialized, patient-centered care you need. We welcome patients from all surrounding communities.
Fort Lauderdale
Weston
Hollywood
Pembroke Pines
Hallandale Beach
Miramar
Cooper City
Pompano Beach
Plantation
Coral Springs
Broward County
All of Florida (Telemedicine)
Schedule a video consultation from the comfort of your home. Dr. Leeds is accepting new patients for telemedicine visits throughout Florida.
3290 NE 33rd St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 Mon–Fri, 10 AM – 2 PM
Deciding to reduce a psychiatric medication is a serious medical decision, and the most common way it goes wrong is speed. Antidepressants, benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, and
Two patients can take the same benzodiazepine at the same dose for the same number of years and need completely different tapers. That is the
Informed consent should be the strongest protection a patient has. Before any psychiatric medication is started, the prescriber should explain what the drug can do,
Benzodiazepine tapering is a carefully guided, gradual reduction of medication designed to ease withdrawal and support safer long-term recovery. Through his concierge telemedicine practice in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Dr. Mark Leeds provides personalized taper plans, close medical monitoring, and flexible one-on-one support tailored to each patient’s symptoms, goals, and progress.
In Fort Lauderdale, FL, the Ashton Method supports patients through BIND, acute withdrawal, and protracted withdrawal with a slow, carefully structured taper designed to reduce symptom intensity and improve stability. This approach uses individualized adjustments, close monitoring, and ongoing education to help patients move through withdrawal more safely and with consistent medical support.
Dr. Leeds specializes in Benzodiazepine Tapering in Fort Lauderdale, FL by creating personalized tapering plans tailored to each patient’s needs, using evidence-based strategies, and providing close ongoing monitoring throughout the process. His compassionate, patient-centered approach is designed to support safety, comfort, and lasting success at every stage of treatment.
Patients who have used benzodiazepines long-term and are experiencing withdrawal symptoms, dependence concerns, or difficulty stopping safely may be strong candidates for an Ashton Manual protocol-based tapering program. In our Fort Lauderdale practice, each person is carefully evaluated based on their medical history, current symptoms, and recovery goals to determine whether this structured, gradual tapering approach is the right fit for a safer and more manageable discontinuation process.