Paola Benítez

Paola is a LMSW, she graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Master’s in Social Work – Mental Health and Substance Misuse Specialty. She has worked as a Grief Recovery Specialist under the Grief Recovery Method Institute for six years. Paola has a broad approach to grief, as any unresolved emotional loss can affect the healthy development of the whole person. She has a holistic framework, and thence she uses biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment to find the root cause of problems. She also has experience working with equine-assisted psychotherapy and externalizations of emotions in a metaphoric environment.

Paola wrote a thesis titled “A Neuroscience-Based Curriculum for Addiction Prevention for Fourth-Grade Students” based on the strength-based and mindfulness perspectives. Her thesis was read on all continents in less than two months after the University of Texas at Arlington Library released it in May 2024. Anyone can apply the curriculum she displays in her thesis to different areas, such as stress reduction, self-control, impulsivity, and positive thinking towards oneself. She continues to study neuroscience at Dr. Dan Siegel’s Mindsight Institute and has received training in different therapeutic models such as the CPS model, Executive Function, Internal Family Systems, and ACT to help kids, adolescents, and families with unresolved problems.

Through her continuous study and experience with clients and as a mom of six children, Paola brings many tools to the therapeutic session to serve each client’s needs. She believes in the inner strengths that each client has within, and she empowers them to use them for long-lasting positive change.