Dr. Mirna Ballestas is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with over 24 years of experience. Dr. Ballestas earned her clinical psychologist degree at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia; and later completed a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology at Illinois School of Professional Psychology (Chicago, IL), with an emphasis in Health Psychology. Her clinical practice has focused on holistic health and overall wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities. Dr. Ballestas has worked as Director of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health at Sinai Health System and currently provides consultation to the City of Chicago Mayor’s office on the Mental Health Equity Council. Dr. Ballestas is a certified instructor in Mental Health First Aid.
She has worked on bridging medical care, mental health and community health at multiple hospitals throughout her professional career. An additional area of focus has been the prioritizing and maintenance of health and wellness of healthcare providers. Dr. Ballestas has worked on wellness of healthcare professionals to prevent burn-out, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue. Dr. Ballestas provides workshops, consultation, and trainings on variety of topics, mostly related to Health & Wellness, Trauma: Acute, Chronic, Complex, Systems of Care and Communities of High Need, Healthy Immigration& Acculturation, Corporate Healthy Workplace, Work & Life Balance.
Her bi-cultural upbringing and clinical training heightens her sensitivity to the role of culture and diversity in overall health and wellbeing. Dr. Ballestas practices from an integrative approach in which she combines perspectives and interventions through a Systems Framework that incorporates Trauma Informed Care, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Object Relations, Gottman principals, and Self-Psychology. She has a keen sensitive approach to children, adolescents, and families. Likewise, has great experience with young adults and couples.