Founded in 2009 by CEO Dr. Anne Esquivel, Mind Works is a Children’s Counseling Practice offering families and their children a comprehensive slate of mental health services and treatments, including assessments, child, teen, and family therapy, parenting support, and medication-assisted treatment.
Dr. Esquivel began her counseling career as a solo practitioner in Centreville, Va., and in San Antonio. In San Antonio, she saw a pressing need for a behavioral healthcare facility that provided comprehensive assessment, counseling, and medication for children, teens, and their families. This need served as the catalyst for creating Mind Works. Today, Mind Works has expanded to four locations in San Antonio, Schertz, and New Braunfels, with a dedicated team of over 50 staff members and providers.
Mind Works provides assessment and treatment to children and teens struggling with mental health and behavioral issues such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, aggression, social and emotional difficulties, trauma, and grief. Dr. Esquivel and the Mind Works team also provide parent support services to help parents learn how to manage their child’s behavior at home and in other settings, such as on the sports field. Ideally, a treatment plan follows an approximate monthly schedule of three to four (preferably weekly) sessions with the child, followed by a session with the parents.
“My mantra is that children don’t raise themselves,” Dr. Esquivel explained. “We are very focused on involving the parents in their child’s treatment plan. We teach them how to support their child’s treatment.”
For children ages three to 12, Mind Works utilizes play therapy as the preferred evidence-based treatment. Mind Works holds a unique position throughout the San Antonio – New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in that its Chief Clinical Officer, Angela Medellin, is one of only 19 Registered Play Therapist – Supervisors (RPT-S) in the MSA. In play therapy, a trained play therapist utilizes toys and games to encourage a child to express their feelings and emotions such as frustration, anger, or anxiety. “Because play is a child’s first language, we want to speak to them through play,” Dr. Esquivel said. “Through the observations made during the play session, the therapist can develop a customized treatment plan for each individual child.”
Dr. Esquivel is quick to point out that there are a number of misconceptions and uncertainties that parents sometimes have about behavioral healthcare treatment for their children. “Often, parents struggle with determining whether a child’s behavior is a normal developmental stage or if it is not on target,” she said. “We work with them to determine this.”
Another misconception that parents can have is that they think their child is too young to benefit from behavioral healthcare treatment. “But in reality, children as young as age three can and do benefit from assessment and therapy,” Dr. Esquivel said.
Finally, a common misconception is that therapy is a quick fix. “I like to say, ‘There is no microwave therapy.’ Families need to be consistent and regular in their sessions,” Dr. Esquivel said.
Dr. Esquivel noted that attitudes toward mental health treatment are starting to change. “If there is a silver lining to the pandemic and to social media, it’s that these brought the importance of mental health to the forefront,” she said. “Today’s young families are more aware of the importance of mental health and are more comfortable in addressing this in their families.”
Mind Works continues to develop a trailblazing mental healthcare path in the San Antonio and New Braunfels areas. The practice will soon mark a major milestone of having served 100,000 area children, teens, and their families with their mental and behavioral assessment and treatment programs. The demand for children’s behavioral healthcare in the San Antonio to New Braunfels MSA is significant, with a growing demand for services. Currently, there are over 640,000 children residing in the MSA between the ages of 3 and 17.
This milestone translates to a significant impact on so many in these communities. “When a child gets help for mental health struggles, it has a spiderweb effect,” Dr. Esquivel noted. “This mental health support impacts their siblings, their parents and grandparents. There is a ripple effect of positive change that affects the entire family and even their future children.”
Mind Works’ mission is centered on Compassion, Integrity, and Accountability, and the practice is dedicated to providing exceptional behavioral healthcare that effectively meets the needs of this region’s children, adolescents, and their families.
Mind Works
8207 Callaghan Rd., Ste. 425, San Antonio, TX 78230
5700 Schertz Pkwy Ste. 150, Schertz, TX 78154
9730 Westover Hills Blvd, Ste. 108, San Antonio, TX 78251
2115 Stephens Pl, Ste 730, New Braunfels, TX 78130
(210) 366-3700
mindworkstx.com
