Background
Michelle was born in raised in Miami, Florida. She is bilingual speaking English and Spanish. Michelle has always been drawn to children and early intervention since her undergraduate years. It was then when she earned her Bachelor’s Degree that she decided to specialize in childhood trauma, early child development, infant mental health and autism.
This finding is very affirming after Michelle having her own child with Autism and helping her reach her full potential as her mother and a mental health professional. Michelle returned to graduate school to complete her certification in Applied Behavioral Analysis to understand her daughter’s interventions and be proactive as her advocate.
It was then that she decided to open her practice and guide other families with children with Autism as well as help typical children with behavioral issues and empower parent with effective parenting strategies.
Education
Michelle obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Florida International University. During her time achieving her degrees, she interned at the UHealth Mailman Center for Child Development focusing on Infant Mental Health and Domestic Violence.
After graduation, Michelle worked in the Foster Care Development Program at Citrus Health Network (CHN) for 9 years. In the foster care program, she provided individual and family therapy, participated in child welfare court hearings and was the director of the Specialized Therapeutic Group Home.
Michelle then transferred to The Early Childhood Development Program within CHN for 2 years where she was Program Coordinator and became certified in Infant Mental Health and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. In her new role, she also facilitated parent staffing's for children with developmental concerns and provided developmental testing.
