Patsy Mika considers herself a “third culture kid” growing up overseas in a foreign service family. Living abroad, traveling and experiencing different cultures led her to an early interest in mental health and the importance of building resilience. Patsy is a therapist with experience working in diverse populations, including; adolescents and adults in recovery for substance abuse, post-incarceration rehabilitation, at-risk youth, trauma across the life span (point of incident and recovery), crisis intervention and prevention, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. Patsy is skilled in assessing patients and developing and administering treatment plans while using a background of positive psychology and focusing on person-centered care. Patsy has a clinical focus on trauma informed care, multicultural awareness, positive psychology, clinical art therapy, and mindfulness-based practices among others. She also has both personal and professional experience in multicultural, multigenerational, and multilingual situations.
Patsy is an art therapist and currently working in community-based crisis work with individuals with ID/DD through the REACH program, as a Clinical Team Lead with EasterSeals UCP North Carolina and Virginia,
She earned her B.A. from Spring Hill College cum laude where she majored in Art Therapy and Psychology, and holds a Master of Arts degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and Clinical Art Psychotherapy from Loyola Marymount University. She lives in D.C., is married and has a four-year-old son.