Carla Mayorga, Ph. D.

Psychologist

Education: Carla Mayorga, Ph.D., earned her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Miami after completing her pre-doctoral internship at Boston University's Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology. Dr. Mayorga's post-doctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine's Hispanic Clinic and Emory University School of Medicine's Child and Adolescent Mood Program further fueled her commitment to providing culturally sensitive and evidence-based treatments using a social justice framework.

Approach to therapy: Being intentionally present and non-judgmental, Dr. Mayorga views each client as the expert of their experience. Openly discussing our identities in the room helps to facilitate trust via increased understanding of context. Dr. Mayorga understands therapy as an opportunity for clients to self-examine and create change. Discomfort during change/growth are part and parcel of treatment. Specifically, when using a cognitive behavioral therapy approach, clients will become well-versed in identifying their feelings and thoughts that trigger said feelings. Over time, core beliefs about self are uncovered which may have been helpful or accurate at one time but are no longer. Throughout treatment, Dr. Mayorga uses the therapeutic relationship to inform and fuel the work in which clients decide to engage.

Approach to supervision: As Interim Assistant Training Director, Dr. Mayorga is dedicated to both providing and training supervisees in competency-based clinical supervision practices. The therapy triad (supervisor, supervisee-therapist and client) explores their intersecting identities, both overlapping and distinct, which facilitates implementing a social justice framework. Also informed by developmental and cognitive-behavioral supervision theories, Dr. Mayorga values reciprocal transparency and accountability in the collaborative supervisory relationship.