Dr. Esther Palacios-Barrios (she/her/ella) is a licensed psychologist dedicated to providing supportive and effective care to children, adolescents, and adults. She earned her bachelor’s degree with honors from Stanford University in Psychology with a specialization in health and development. She completed a postbaccalaureate fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where she received training in affective neuroscience. Dr. Palacios-Barrios holds a Master of Science and a dual PhD in Clinical and Developmental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Palacios-Barrios completed her doctoral internship in Clinical Child Psychology at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She has received extensive clinical training across diverse treatment settings including outpatient clinics, intensive outpatient program, residential shelter, inpatient hospitalization, therapeutic school, partial hospitalization programs, and pediatric primary care.

Dr. Palacios-Barrios specializes in working with youth and adults facing challenges related to depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma, and cultural stress. She is committed to evidence-based treatment modalities including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and interpersonal therapy (IPT). She is trained in exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD and Comprehensive Behavioral (ComB) model/habit reversal training (HRT) for body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs). She has specialized training in Trauma Focused-CBT (TF-CBT) to treat children, adolescents, and families impacted by trauma. She offers parent training (PMT and SPACE), teaching parent skills to promote positive behaviors and support anxiety in their children. She also has extensive experience in conducting neuropsychological assessments and ADHD evaluations.

With a natural, approachable style, she quickly establishes rapport with children and teens, who find her easy to talk to and relatable. She incorporates each child’s interests into the treatment approach, often incorporating games, creating comics, or writing song lyrics together to make the treatment room a fun and trusting space. She builds meaningful connections with families, incorporating parents into treatment when appropriate, and teaching them strategies to support their child. Dr. Palacios-Barrios works collaboratively with adult clients, encouraging them to explore their thoughts and feelings while building on their inherent strengths. Her approach is characterized by a thoughtful and inquisitive nature, allowing clients to gain valuable insights and achieve personal growth. She helps all clients to understand and better manage relationships, expectations, perfectionism, peer pressure, family dynamics, and stress, particularly during times of transition. Dr. Palacios-Barrios is committed to empowering her clients to foster resilience and develop the tools they need to navigate life’s challenges and find greater fulfillment. Dr. Palacios-Barrios is also deeply committed to supporting individuals from historically marginalized groups, including sexual and gender minorities, helping them navigate and heal from cultural stress. Dr. Palacios-Barrios is particularly passionate about providing psychological services in Spanish to the Hispanic/Latinx community. She is a native Spanish-speaker and offers psychological services to Spanish-speaking clients.

Dr. Palacios-Barrios is licensed in DC, Maryland, Virginia and is authorized to practice telehealth therapy in over 40 additional US states and territories through PSYPACT.

When not at work, Dr. Palacios-Barrios can be found spending time with her four puppies, watching the latest movies in theaters, playing Nintendo Switch, and dancing salsa/bachata.