I am a seasoned psychologist with extensive training and experience in the treatment of depression, anxiety, panic disorder, and trauma. I am well-trained in psychodynamic, attachment, and sensorimotor psychotherapy principles. Sensorimotor psychotherapy is a body-focused, experiential approach that helps us recognize how our nervous system responds to anxiety, depression, and panic and gives us techniques for calming the nervous system.
I am a native Texan and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
In my twenties, I worked at the Texas Department of Health, eventually managing the Texas State Newborn Screening Laboratory program.
At 38 years of age, I left Austin with my husband (now of over 30 years) and pursued a master’s degree in Public Health. In Houston, I was the founding director of an agency that provided services to families with chronically-ill and disabled children.
I left that position to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Houston. I interned at the University of Houston Counseling Center. We returned to Austin in 1997 and I opened my office near the U.T. campus.
My Approach to Therapy
My evidence-based approach to therapy makes use of the powerful evidence that early experience with caregivers determine lifelong patterns as well as the newer evidence of therapeutic interventions that can activate the clients self-healing mechanism.
Unresolved emotional difficulties predisposes us to chronic distress, inability to maintain satisfying relationships and/or careers, and even illness. Science tells us that our brains and bodies contain information for resolving our pain and conflict. My body-focused and experiential therapy aims to help clients solve their problems by tapping into their own “deeper knowing”.
My work with you will begin by my getting an idea of what’s going on today and what brings you to therapy. Together, we will explore the specifics of your pain or conflict.
The details are important. During this initial session, we will explore what you hope to get from therapy and, specifically, what your goals are.
Our work together will proceed by clarifying the patterns around your current difficulties and defining the triggers that help set those patterns into motion. Our past experiences do shape how we think, feel, react, interact, and behave today. Through exploring and understanding your history, we will begin to unravel its impact on your present life.
At the end of the initial interview, once I have an idea of what is currently going on in your life and what you hope to get from therapy, I will give recommendations as to how to proceed.
Educational Background
Ph.D. Counseling Psychology, 1994, University of Houston.
Internship, 1993-1994, University of Houston Counseling Center
M.P.H. Master of Public Health, 1988, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX.
Memberships & Associations
National Register of Health Service Psychologists
Member, American Psychological Association
Member, Capitol Area Psychological Association
Member, Austin Group Psychotherapy Society
Contact Patricia to schedule an initial conversation or to make an appointment today.