Board
2025-2026 Board of Directors
President - Alejandra Sequeria, Ph.D.
Dr. Alejandra “Ally” Sequeira is a Counseling Psychologist, licensed in Texas and California as well as through Psy Pact. She obtained my Bachelors of Arts in History and Psychology from The University of Alabama and both her Masters of Education in Educational Psychology and Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Texas A&M University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Cherokee Health Systems in Knoxville, TN and her post-doctoral fellowship at The OCD and Anxiety Program of Southern California.
Dr. Ally Sequeira recently started her practice practice, Houston OCD & Anxiety. She provides individualized, evidence-based treatment for children, adolescents, and adults with OCD, OCD-related disorders, anxiety disorders, disordered eating, trauma, depression, parenting-related challenges, and other life stressors. She is fluent in Spanish and provides treatment in both languages.
President Elect - Jenny Hughes, Ph.D.
Jenny Hughes, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist with 15+ years of experience in the field of trauma. She earned her Ph.D at the University of California at Santa Barbara, with a focus on addressing childhood trauma, and began to specialize in infant mental health during her internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Louisiana State University Health Science Center (LSUHSC) in New Orleans. Later, as the trauma psychologist at a Level 1 Trauma Center working with survivors of traumatic injury, she began supporting other helping professionals and co-developed a comprehensive wellness program for hospital staff. Clinically, she now works with adult survivors of trauma and PTSD and supervises pre-doctoral psychology interns treating children and families affected by trauma.
Dr. Hughes is the founder of The BRAVE Trauma Therapist Collective where she works to support trauma therapists as they manage vicarious trauma, prevent burnout, and enhance vicarious resilience. She is a certified Brainspotting therapist, rostered Cognitive Processing Therapist, and trained in EMDR, TF-CBT, Child Parent Psychotherapy, and Circle of Security. Dr. Hughes holds academic appointments as an Assistant Professor at LSUHSC and The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth), she is the owner and founder of Jennifer Hughes, PhD, PLLC, and the author of The PTSD Recovery Workbook and Triggers to Glimmers: A Vicarious Resilience Journal and Workbook.
Treasurer - Charlotte Parrott, Ph.D.
Dr. Charlotte Parrott is a licensed psychologist in private practice who provides evidence-based treatments to adults, adolescents, and couples. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Houston and completed her internship with Baylor College of Medicine. She completed her postdoctoral training at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center where she provided therapy to address smoking cessation, other health behavior changes, and psychological issues for both clinical research studies and with MDACC patients.
Dr. Parrott is passionate about evidence-based practice and has received extensive training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. When not helping her clients, she enjoys the outdoors, spending time with family, knitting, and reading.
Secretary - Ivy Ruths, Ph.D.
Ivy Ruths. Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist. She is the owner and director of the Houston Anxiety and Wellness Center where she specializes in evidence-based treatments for anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, body-focused repetitive behaviors (BRFBs), depressive disorders, and parenting difficulties. Dr. Ruths works with children, adolescents, adults, and parents in her private practice utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention, and SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions).
Dr. Ruths received a B.A. in Psychology and English from the University of Texas at Austin and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston. She has gained her expertise working in a variety of clinical treatment settings including a hospital, community clinic, an inpatient residential facility for severe anxiety disorders, in the school setting, and in private practice.
She has been on the board of OCD Texas, an International OCD Foundation affiliate, since 2017, and is currently serving as Vice President.
Dr. Ruths has been featured on several podcasts and enjoys presenting and leading workshops at local and national conferences. She is passionate about destigmatizing mental health, educating the public, and advocating for awareness.
Past President - Laura Spiller, Ph.D.
Dr. Laura Spiller is a psychologist who specializes in helping individuals and couples strengthen relationships and connect with those they care about. She completed her doctoral training in psychology at the University of Houston and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. For over 10 years, she was a professor who trained clinical psychology graduate students and conducted research on relationships. She is the owner of Heights Couples Therapy and co-owner of Wellness Collaborative, psychology practices in the Heights area of Houston.
Director at Large - Daniel Katz, Psy.D
Dr. Katz is the owner of Houston Therapy, a group practice that provides psychotherapy and psychological assessments to adults and adolescents. He is also the Co-founder of Approach IOP, a 6 week milieu-based Intensive Outpatient treatment for social anxiety, isolation, and avoidance. Katz has a doctorate degree in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. He completed his doctoral internship at the Pennsylvania State University’s Counseling and Psychological Services. He is currently an advanced candidate in adult psychoanalysis at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies in Houston. Dr. Katz has been a licensed psychologist for 11 years, and has a total of 17 years of experience working in mental health. He is experienced working in a variety of settings, including private practice, teaching, college counseling, alcohol and drug rehabilitation, community mental health, and psychiatric hospitalization. At Houston Therapy, he primarily works with individuals and groups. Dr. Katz specializes in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, working with professionals and creatives. and identity and self-esteem issues.
Director at Large - Andrea Pihlaskari, Ph.D.
Dr. Andrea Pihlaskari is a licensed child and adolescent psychologist that specializes in the mental healthcare of adolescents, young adults and their families. She is a native Houstonian and received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Texas Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Dallas, Texas. She also completed a two year postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Child Psychology and Pediatric Health Psychology at Texas Children's Hospital/ Baylor College of Medicine at the Texas Medical Center.
She has a special interest in individuals of all ages who are coping with burnout and the mental health impacts of medical illnesses such as diabetes (type 1 and type 2) and coping with medically unexplained physical symptoms. Dr. Pihlaskari has worked with individuals with medical illness and diabetes since 2007. Dr. Pihlaskari has an interest in providing culturally competent care to individuals of diverse backgrounds and has a specialty in providing mental healthcare to first and second generation immigrant families. She is trained in a variety of orientations and she draws from cognitive behavioral based approaches including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. She conceptualizes clients from a systems and humanistic perspective and believes in a strengths based approach to help guide clients and their families to actualize the best version of themselves.
Since 2018 she has been the main clinician and owner at Houston Psychology and Wellness, where she continues to help adolescents, young adults, and their families understand their own mental health challenges, make meaning out of their particular struggles and learn to not only cope, but to thrive.
Director at Large - Liz Ross, Ph.D.
Dr. Ross is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice. She specializes in treating individuals with chronic health conditions, sleep disorders, PTSD, and trauma as well as adjustment disorder. She is a PSYPACT licensed provider. Dr. Ross incorporates evidence-based treatments including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She works with adolescents, adults, couples, and families. In addition, Dr. Ross has served as a consultant for several institutions including Houston Methodist, J. Flowers Health Institute, the Journalist Trauma Support Network, and Advantage Point Behavioral.
Dr. Ross received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Virginia. After graduation, she worked as a mental health associate at the Menninger Clinic, a residential psychiatric facility located in Houston. Dr. Ross then went on to pursue a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of Houston, where she was heavily involved in research and clinical training. Dr. Ross completed her internship year at the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio. After obtaining her doctoral degree, she pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine.
Prior to transitioning to private practice, Dr. Ross worked as a clinical psychologist at TIRR Memorial Hermann and was promoted as the coordinator of all outpatient psychotherapy services at TIRR. She has also worked at Baylor College of Medicine and M.D. Anderson in their respective Pain Medicine Departments as well as The Orchard on the Brazos, a residential substance abuse facility.
