Who is this Amanda lady, anyway?
I am a marriage and family therapist living and working in North Houston. I am inquisitive, interactive, and open. I have a good sense of humor, which I use in my work. I work with individuals and couples on a wide range of problems. My style is collaborative, as I realize each client depends on me to have a flexible vision for how their life, mood, relationships, career and sense of self can uniquely improve. You can expect to get concrete tools and techniques that you can apply in your everyday life to develop concrete problem-solving skills.
Education and Experience
I received a graduate degree at University of Houston- Clear Lake in Marriage and Family Therapy with a concentration in Women's Studies. I belong to Psi Chi, and graduated with honors from graduate and undergrad. I’ve worked at a women’s shelter, a wonderful camp for special needs children, with an foster and adoption agency and in a residential treatment facility. In addition, I’ve been in private practice with Family and Youth Institute for almost 7 years before founding Be Well Institute of Texas.
I currently remain active with mental health continuing education and collaboration with other outpatient and inpatient mental health professionals in order to keep up to date with current treatment modalities and evidence-based practices.
I can also be found here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/131272
Family Life
We are an active family that hikes, gardens and spends time being average folks. I have been married for almost 20 years and have one child. My husband, Dandridge, teaches art and is funny and easy-going. My son Gray is the typical school-aged kid that likes screens way too much and will play outside and make up games if I take the tablet away. He has both the blessing and curse of being an only child, but seems to take it in stride. I’ll spare you how great I think he is and move on. (He’s pretty great.)
Worth noting…
To be clear, I did not put this family/interest page together to put forward the story of perfection or tell the story of some blog-worthy family. Instead, this is intended to humanize me as a helper and therapist and for you, the potential client, to determine if I would be a good fit for your needs.
In session, I prefer to keep the focus on my client. By giving you an idea of who I am here, my hope is that questions can be answered in advance so I can attend to therapeutic concerns during our time together. I also hope this may help clients feel more comfortable opening up to do the hard work required in therapy.
Personal Interests
The kind of work that I do can be draining. When I’m not in session or doing paperwork, I like to keep busy. I’ve developed a variety of interests to help me re-charge.
I ask my clients to share intimate details of their lives, to journal, to push boundaries and to explore personal interests. I share the interest section to illustrate that I also strive to attend to my own mental, physical and emotional health through experience and learning. I am not the best at what I do, but that is hardly the point. I too have to regularly remind myself that to do and to learn is to grow. I ask the same of my clients as a way to promote balance and healing.
Acrylic and portrait painting
I’ve tried my hand at many styles, but I always seem to come back to portraiture. I’m naturally curious, and find I’m intrigued by people and their stories. I suppose it’s not mystery why I like figure drawing and portrait painting.
Gardening
We like to eat what we grow, even though we don’t always have the most impressive harvests. I usually get a lot of broccoli in the winter and squash, tomatoes and basil in the summer. If you are a gardener, this should tell you a bit about my skill level. I mostly enjoy the puttering around. The tomatoes are a perk!
Watercolor
I also work with watercolor and ink. I enjoy almost all creative mediums. In fact, I met my husband in art school! My grandmother is the artist Shirley Koenig, who pens the Country’s Edge series of art books.
Nature and Animals
We have several pets, I have kept bees and I generally enjoy the presence of animals. I have an affinity for science and biology and will often catch (and release) animals in and around our yard to show my son.
Outdoors
We share a love of camping, hiking and just being outdoors. We sit around a fire with our friends, BBQ outside, take walks or just sit outside to have coffee. Even a cardboard box in the driveway is enough entertainment for a Saturday!
Cooking
The kitchen is special place in the home. I know I’m happy when my family is together in that space, even if we are doing our own thing. I love to cook, preserve and make jams. I am a good cook but a terrible baker-though I enjoy decorating my sub-par baked goods. For me, cooking is another way to stay creative.
Reading, music and everything else.
I read. A lot. Since childhood, reading has been one of my favorite pastimes. I also enjoy concerts, music, sewing and whatever else I can get into in my spare moments.
