BIO

I am a board-certified Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrician with over 20 years of experience in caring for children and families. I recently earned a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Northwestern University to broaden my clinical scope to include counseling for adolescents and their families. I support the relationship between teens and their parents by identifying areas of strength and common goals, exploring past and present sources of difficulty, and focus on strategies to improve family attachments and communication. I meet with teens and parents together as well as individually to identify areas of opportunity for improvement in emotional understanding and family communication The goals of therapy include empowering teens and parents to strengthen family ties, optimizing adolescent development, and fostering healthy relationships with others. My therapeutic approach utilizes theories on attachment, family systems, and psychodynamic therapy. I work with families with a variety of concerns including adolescent mental health, parental divorce, and family stability. I am a member of the Texas Counseling Association, the American Counseling Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and its Sections on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and Adolescent Health. I am a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), and actively collaborate with other mental health professionals.

My journey to a career in counseling

I attended medical school and completed my internship year in Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. I did my Pediatrics residence at West Virginia University and completed my fellowship in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics there. My past professional experiences include assistant clinical professorships at West Virginia University and Bowman Gray Medical School and private practices in Pediatrics in North Carolina and Texas. In 2010 I closed my Developmental Pediatrics practice to focus on the needs of my family. My experience as a parent of a child with depression inspired me to work with families of teens with mental health issues. I pursued a master’s degree in counseling in order to expand my education and provide more services to those I worked with. During my training I shifted my professional focus from a problem-focused medical model to one which focuses on wellness, empowerment, development through the lifespan, and healthy relationships. Although I understand and appreciate the role of medication in mental health, I emphasize emotional intelligence and empathy, understanding one’s past and how it affects parenting and relationships, and effective communication with others, rather than write prescriptions. My practice is quite unique – my personal experiences, my training as a Developmental Pediatrician, and my counseling education allow me to provide services tailored to the individual needs of teens and their families.  To find out if my practice is a good fit for your family, please complete the questionnaire below. I will contact you with my recommendations within 2-3 business days.