About Carina.
Carina, a Chicago native, is a mom of two and the wife of a military veteran currently residing in Northwest Indiana She has dedicated the past 20 years to supporting children and families in a variety of settings — including health care, high-quality dual language early childhood programs, and child welfare in Illinois.
She is a bilingual and bicultural licensed social worker in both Illinois and Indiana and currently works part-time in a private practice specializing in perinatal mental health and couples therapy. In addition to her clinical work, Carina works as a consultant in various capacities from nonprofits to strengthen advocacy efforts, home visiting, early intervention, fiscal modeling, to supporting comprehensive infant and early childhood mental health in programs.
Passionate about community and service, Carina volunteers with several organizations focused on perinatal mental health and serves as a board member at her children's school, the Illinois Chapter of Postpartum Support International and a few other non profit organizations. Mindfulstarts was founded as a way to bridge her experience in both the perinatal and early childhood fields, addressing the gap she observed in supporting parents from conception through a child's formative years. Through this work, Carina seeks to empower families to better understand themselves and enhance their parenting experience with compassion, emotional awareness and confidence.
Specialties
- Perinatal & Postpartum Mental Health Certified
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Perinatal / Family)
- Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH)
- Developmental Therapist (DT)
Stages of care
- you
- pregnancy
- newborn
