Meet Our Therapists in Tampa, St. Petersburg & Sarasota
View our team of top-rated therapists and explore by location and specialization
Annie Mowbray, MA
Tampa | Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern | Chronic Illness & Disability
ABOUT
Annie is a trauma-informed clinician in Tampa offering virtual therapy across Florida and in-person sessions for adults and couples. She specializes in the inner world of high-functioning clients who look composed on the outside while privately carrying anxiety, perfectionism, OCD, or the long-term weight of relational trauma. With a Master's in Rehabilitation Counseling and Disability Sciences, Annie brings rare specialty depth to therapy for adults living with chronic illness or invisible disability, and to the partners and families navigating life alongside them.
SPECIALTIES
Annie draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Gestalt therapy, and a trauma-informed lens, adapting her approach to the person in the room rather than applying a single protocol. Her clients often carry high-functioning anxiety, OCD, or perfectionism alongside deeper layers of relational trauma, complex trauma, and PTSD, with depression, life transitions, adjustment disorders, or disordered eating frequently part of the picture. She brings particular depth to therapy for adults living with chronic illness, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, neurodivergence, and the invisible disabilities the world tends to overlook. She works just as closely with the caregivers and families navigating a loved one's illness or disability, and with couples rebuilding emotional safety after infidelity or strained communication. Annie sees young adults and adults at the Tampa office and across Florida via secure telehealth.
Chelsea Walker, MA, LMFT
Sarasota | Couples, Women's & Older Adult Therapist
ABOUT
Chelsea Walker is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Sarasota who creates a compassionate, client-centered space for healing and growth. She works with couples, families, and individuals navigating relationship challenges, life transitions, grief, and the personal struggles that ask for deeper attention.
SPECIALTIES
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Solution-Focused Therapy, and the Gottman Method. Couples communication, conflict, infidelity recovery, women's empowerment, life transitions, and grief in older adults. Couples, families, individuals, women, and older adults. Sarasota office and Florida telehealth.
Nicole Young, MSW, LCSW
Sarasota | Child, Teen & Family Therapist
ABOUT
Nicole Young specializes in supporting and empowering children, teens, and families through the emotional, relational, and developmental shifts of growing up. Her warm, attuned style balances gentle encouragement with the practical tools families need to communicate, connect, and grow together.
SPECIALTIES
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), solution-focused strategies, and mindfulness techniques. Anxiety, emotional regulation, motivation, school-related stress, family transitions, and self-confidence. Specialized experience with foster youth, behavioral concerns, and juvenile justice involvement. Children, preteens, teens, and families. Sarasota office and Florida telehealth.
Brianna Garcia, MA, LMHC
Tampa | Child, Teen & Family Therapist
ABOUT
A Tampa native, Brianna Garcia brings deep care to the community she calls home. Her trusting, safe space invites children, teens, families, and adults to learn, heal, and express themselves freely as they take meaningful steps toward growth and self-understanding.
SPECIALTIES
Solution-Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Family Systems approaches, trauma-informed care, and play therapy. Anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, neurodivergence, identity development, and family conflict. Children ages five and up, teens, adults, and families. Tampa office and Florida telehealth.
Andreas Balasis, MSW, LCSW-QS, CHP
St. Petersburg | LCSW, CHP | ACT, Hypnotherapy & Performance Psychology
ABOUT
Andreas helps clients move toward meaningful, lasting change with a style that is warm, direct, and collaborative. His clinical home is the intersection of psychological flexibility, clinical hypnotherapy, and high performance, supporting teens, adults, and couples ready to break long-standing patterns.
SPECIALTIES
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), clinical hypnotherapy, somatic therapy, third-wave Cognitive Behavioral Therapy approaches, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and performance psychology. Anxiety, depression, perfectionism, substance use and addictive behaviors, life transitions, and relationship concerns. Specialized work with teens, athletes, high performers, and professionals. St. Petersburg office and Florida telehealth.
Dr. Alex Castañeda, PhD, LMHC
Tampa | EMDR, Trauma & Addiction Therapist
ABOUT
Dr. Alex Castañeda helps adults and couples heal from trauma, process addiction, and emotional patterns that no longer fit the life they want. His doctoral work in psychology and theology lets him pair rigorous psychological science with a faith-aware approach for clients who want their values honored, while working just as readily with clients of any belief system or none. He sees clients at the Tampa office and through telehealth across Florida.
SPECIALTIES
Advanced training in EMDR, drawing additionally on Emotionally Focused Therapy, the Gottman Method, existential, and CBT and DBT informed approaches. Single-incident and complex trauma, pornography and process addiction, religious trauma, anxiety, depression, and relationship repair. Deep doctoral focus on addiction and its impact on partners and relationships, paired with couples EMDR for trauma carried into the relationship. Adults and couples. Tampa office and Florida telehealth.
Lauren Pages, MSW, Registered Clinical Social Worker Intern
Tampa | Registered Clinical Social Worker Intern | Child, Teen & Young Adult Therapist
ABOUT
Lauren Pages is a Registered Clinical Social Worker Intern specializing in children, teens, young adults, and families. She is passionate about the moment when a child's struggle becomes the family's healing, working collaboratively with parents to create meaningful and sustainable change. With older teens and young adults, Lauren creates space to explore identity, navigate major life transitions, and build a life rooted in personal values.
SPECIALTIES
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing, and trauma-informed care, integrating mindfulness, movement, art, music, and play. Anxiety, depression, school-related stress, emotional regulation, ADHD, mood disorders, family conflict, self-harm, life transitions, and identity work. Children five and up, teens, young adults, and families. Tampa office and Florida telehealth
Stanton Hugger, MSN, PMHNP-BC, CARN-AP
Tampa | Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner | Medication Management
ABOUT
Stanton Hugger is a Board-Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner offering psychiatric evaluation, diagnosis, and medication management for children, teens, and adults. His holistic, patient-centered approach pairs medical expertise with the collaborative spirit of a clinician who treats each person's story as their own.
SPECIALTIES
Comprehensive psychiatric assessment, psychopharmacology, and integration of medical and psychological care. Anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD, mood regulation, autism spectrum support, and substance use disorders. Advanced Certified Addictions Registered Nurse (CARN-AP). Children, teens, adults, and families. Tampa office and Florida telehealth.
Elena Khutaba
Elena is our compassionate care coordinator, serving clients across our Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota locations.
Melissa Zentner, MS, LMHC
St. Petersburg | PTSD, Anxiety & Family Trauma Specialist
ABOUT
With over ten years of clinical practice, Melissa Zentner offers integrative therapy for children, adolescents, and adults navigating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, impulse-control concerns, and depression. Her time-limited, evidence-based approach focuses on measurable symptom reduction without sacrificing depth in the therapeutic relationship.
SPECIALTIES
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, person-centered therapy, and Gottman Method Level 1. PTSD, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, generational trauma, premarital counseling, and sport psychology. Children, teens, adults, and couples. St. Petersburg office and Florida telehealth.
Dr. Mary Perleoni, PhD, LMHC, NCC
Founder & Clinical Director | Tampa | Couples & Trauma Therapist
ABOUT
Founder and clinical director of It Begins Within, Dr. Mary Perleoni brings doctoral-level expertise in counseling, clinical supervision, and trauma-informed care. She supports couples and individuals through infidelity recovery, infertility, discernment counseling, and the complex relational dynamics that define modern partnership.
SPECIALTIES
Couples therapy, infidelity recovery, discernment counseling, and trauma therapy. Trained in Gottman Method, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Gestalt, and mindfulness. Specialized work in intensive couples workshops and breakthrough retreats. Adults and couples. Tampa office and Florida telehealth.
Kaitlyn Shelp, MA, LMHC-QS
Clinical Director | Tampa & St. Petersburg | Infidelity & Trauma Specialist
ABOUT
Clinical Director for the Tampa and St. Petersburg offices, Kaitlyn Shelp brings deep specialty expertise to couples and individuals seeking healing after disclosure of infidelity. Her trauma-informed, directive approach pairs systematic treatment with the steady warmth this most vulnerable clinical work requires.
SPECIALTIES
Infidelity recovery, betrayal trauma, and couples healing. One of two clinicians in Florida formally trained in Systematic Affair Recovery Therapy (SART). Also trained in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and Gottman Method. Couples and individuals. Tampa and St. Petersburg offices, with Florida telehealth.