Dillon Hayes, MD

Dr. Dillon Hayes is a psychiatrist, writer, and the founder of Elephant.

He earned his B.S. from Cornell University and began his career in finance before pursuing medicine. After receiving his M.D., he completed postgraduate training in adult psychiatry. Based in New York City, his work explores how awareness, belief, behavior, and self-image shape the lives we experience and create.

Drawing from psychiatry, psychology, and contemplative traditions, he writes for people seeking a clearer relationship with themselves and their ambitions—including professionals, founders, and executives navigating meaningful responsibility.

Through essays, ideas, and practical frameworks, Elephant explores awareness, confidence, identity, and freedom—not as abstract ideals, but as forces that shape how we live, work, and relate. The work examines how belief develops through action, how avoidance quietly limits identity, and how greater insight can change both our inner experience and the possibilities we are able to recognize.