Education
Amanda obtained a Master’s degree from Southern Methodist University’s Counseling Program. Additionally, she attended the University of Texas at Dallas, where she received both a Master’s degree in Human Development and Childhood Disorders and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She is also a National Certified Counselor. Throughout her educational journey, she has found her passion in working with adolescents, children and their families.
Experience
Amanda has spent years dedicated to educating and understanding the life cycle of our most precious little minds. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, American Counseling Association, Texas Counseling Association, and Association for Play Therapy. On top of that, she is a Certified Instructor of Infant Massage, a First Three Years Member, and has been endorsed in Infant Mental Health.
With extensive experiences working with children, Amanda has done so in multiple arenas, including equestrian training, pediatric therapy for children with developmental disorders, and pediatric therapy for children who reside with parents while they complete their program in a drug rehab facility.
Mission
With beliefs that we are active co-creators in our world and prosocial adaptation is requirement for healthy living, Amanda maintains that it is more important to understand where people are striving to go rather than where they came from. She has a high regard for social relatedness and the need for belonging, believing that most of the neurosis and cognitive distortions people experience are derived from not being the social creatures we are destined to be.
The relationship she builds with her clients is based on respect and understanding of their present situation. Amanda hopes she can offer her clients a warm and trusting personality, so they allow her to be a fellow traveler in their lives. She is a dreamer and enjoys the task of helping others relate to their dreams, striving to provide them the optimism to help guide their early experiences or misunderstandings to form the complete person and how they relate to their past, present and future choices.
Hobbies & Personal Life
Amanda resides in Plano, Texas, where she spends her spare time spending time with her husband and their three children. She is a mother of twin boys and a busy pre-teen girl, so when she is not busy running to various activities, she likes to spend quiet time catching up on reading anything that is not a textbook. Additionally, she enjoys the outdoors, especially the mountains, where she can recharge.