Meet Karla Pineda | Executive Director, OCD & Anxiety Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Karla Pineda and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karla, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I officially opened Layers Counseling Specialists in September 2023. At the time, I was only able to dedicate weekends to the practice, and I was fully virtual. In December 2023 I took a leap of faith and left my full time job to focus on Layers full-time. In January 2024 I opened my office in Plano, Texas.

I started Layers with the intention of growing it into a group practice with clinicians who were passionate about specific mental health. These clinicians would either be specialists or would be working toward a specialty in those areas.

Becoming a specialist isn’t easy. It takes time, effort, dedication and can be expensive. At Layers, our goal is to help our clinicians continue growing their expertise by providing continuing education assistance and fair pay.

You might be wondering what a specialist is. Specialists are mental clinicians who have gone through–and continue to engage in–intensive trainings in their specific area of interest, have participated in ongoing consultation with experts, and have successfully worked with a large number of clients in their chosen speciality. In other words these clinicians have an expertise in their niche.

We have clinicians who are full fledged specialists and ones who are working toward their speciality (we designate the title of ‘Focused’ to clinicians in the process of working toward their specialty).

What’s the difference between a ‘Specialist’ and a ‘Focused’ clinician at Layers?

Focused clinicians are working toward their specialties and therefore are currently engaging in intensive trainings, case consultation, and supervision. Additionally, these clinicians haven’t worked with as many clients in their chosen niche as specialists and are therefore actively gaining the experience necessary to become a specialist. Because of this, ‘Focused’ clinicians offer counseling services at lower rates than our ‘Specialists’ while still providing quality and evidence-based counseling services.

Originally, the practice started with just me. I’m an OCD & Anxiety Specialists with OCD lived experience. Now, we’ve gained a new clinician who is OCD, Anxiety, and Eating Disorder Focused. Her name is Rachel Tipsword. She’s an LMSW and is under the supervision of Suisan Walker, LCSW-S.

I am hoping to expand the practice and bring on other clinicians who are passionate about a specific niche in the next few months!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m the Executive Director at Layers Counseling Specialists, but am first and foremost a passionate mental health counselor. I decided to become a counselor because I struggled with my own mental health issues growing up. I had a therapist in the past who, like me, was Latine and he helped me see that becoming a counselor was within the realm of possibility for me. I hope to do the same for Latine teens and young adults specifically. I hope that my presence as a Latina in the mental health space can help normalize seeking counseling AND can encourage others to consider this field as well.

The journey to becoming a counselor wasn’t easy. I had to go to graduate school (which I never thought I would do). Grad school was hard, I was working and going to school and navigating different life transitions. During my first semester of school I started experiencing severe rumination and thoughts spirals. It got to the point where I was struggling to work and go to school. I was eventually diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and began receiving treatment for it. Treatment for OCD is called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). It’s basically exposure therapy. ERP helped me so much and so quickly. It gave me my life back. Because of this, I decided to work toward becoming an OCD Specialist.

Since graduating from school. Most of my time and effort has gone toward becoming an OCD & Anxiety Specialist. I’ve taken intensive trainings in different therapeutic modalities all with the focus of improving my skills to treat OCD & Anxiety Disorders including Social Anxiety and Panic Disorder.

Today, I am just as passionate about counseling and improving my practice as I was when I started counseling.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a huge foodie, so if I had a friend visit the city, I would probably take them to some local restaurants and dessert spots. These are a few of my favorites:

-Pho Tay Do in Richardson (they have the BEST Bun Bo Hue)
-The H-Mart and 99 Ranch area in Carrollton. There are so many fun spots there and one of my favorites is Coconut Paradise.
-I love playing pickleball so if they were into pickle I might take them to Chicken & Pickle in Grapevine
-Lastly I might take them to Legacy Hall in Plano for a fun evening!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to thank my partner for always encouraging me to strive for what I want (and for helping me build the Layers website).

My parents for being my biggest supporters and cheerleaders.

My colleagues: Bryna Talamantez, Diana Beltran, Marnie Petit, Haley Harris, Angela Coreil, and Masa Hashem for supporting me, recommending me, and for offering advice when I have business questions.

Our newest clinician Rachel Tipsword for joining the practice and believing in Layers’ mission and values.

Website: https://www.layerscs.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/layerscounseling

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlaapineda/

Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/karlapinedaocd/

Image Credits
Me