Clinical Health Psychology

Offering online Therapy for Women with a chronic illness, including chronic pain and insomnia, throughout Florida

Woman in bed in chronic pain

Are you feeling discouraged, defeated, and alone due to battling chronic medical conditions? Do you feel like no one understands what you’re going through? Are your days so unpredictable because you never know how you will feel on any given day?

Living with a chronic illness, including chronic pain or insomnia, has a profound impact on every facet of a person’s life. It is physically and psychologically stressful; it is time-consuming and exhausting. The constant discomfort you face on a daily basis can make you feel angry and frustrated with yourself and your loved ones.

Frequently feeling sick or exhausted can make maintaining relationships and a vibrant social life challenging. Your fluctuating energy may also limit your career success and affect your motivation for meaningful living and planning a better future.

Clinical Health Psychology

Clinical Health Psychology ❇

You may find yourself feeling anxious, depressed, and isolated as you try to manage your condition and strive for a life well-lived

You may even be struggling with a nameless diagnosis! No matter how many doctors you see, no one can pinpoint the issue or provide definitive treatment. You’ve been bounced around from professional to professional, hoping to find relief. You may feel hopeless or distrustful of the healthcare system.

We are here to help you address the challenges of managing a chronic illness, such as chronic pain, and insomnia

Whether you’re struggling to cope with chronic illnesses, chronic pain management, insomnia, physical ailments, or cognitive deficits — or you’re dealing with psychological stress due to medical treatments or recently diagnosed conditions — or whether you’re seeking to change your lifestyle for healthier living, our highly trained clinicians at Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center are here to help. We offer Therapy for Women with chronic illness, therapy for chronic pain, and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Our team of psychologists and therapists will work with you to achieve mind, body, and spirit alignment so you are set up to thrive.

Dr. Lisandra Mendoza

When women achieve brain and body integration, they are set up to thrive

We know how lonely, painful, and frustrating it can be to navigate health problems. Dealing with chronic illness or chronic pain management can feel impossible at times! We provide a safe and empathetic space for women to express feelings and discuss the challenges associated with chronic illness, chronic pain, and/or insomnia. 

We’re here to partner together to manage these issues

We’re here when you don’t have the energy to face them alone

Our highly trained clinical health psychologists and therapists are here to help you:

  • Better manage chronic pain or insomnia

  • Cope with health-related anxiety

  • Explore your motivations and values

  • Find meaning in your life

  • Find motivation for physical activity and lifestyle modification

  • Help you take better care of your body and brain

  • Help you make informed, intentional decisions regarding your health

  • Improve your overall quality of life 

  • Learn ways to boost your metabolism

  • Learn ways to decrease stress-induced inflammation

  • Make values-aligned positive lifestyle changes

  • Manage your disease through lifestyle choices

  • Regulate your nervous system

  • Set achievable health-related goals and meet them

  • Understand how your medical condition impacts your mental health 

Areas of focus:

Woman standing at beach

Online therapy for chronic illness

As chronic illness psychologists and therapists, we provide a supportive space to process the emotional impact of a wide range of health challenges. We are also here to teach women effective coping strategies. We use supportive and integrative methods, pulling from various chronic illness approaches, to best meet women’s needs.

    • Autoimmune disorders

    • Chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS)

    • Crohn’s disease

    • Cystic fibrosis

    • Diabetes

    • Dysautonomia

    • Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS)

    • Endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

    • Gastrointestinal disorders

    • Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

    • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

    • Long COVID or post-COVID conditions

    • Lyme disease

    • Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS)

    • Neurological syndromes

    • Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)

    • Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and postmenstrual syndrome (PMS)

    • Renal disease

    • Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Woman stretching by the ocean

Online therapy for chronic pain

At Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center, we use evidence-based therapies and holistic, integrative interventions to support women as they navigate chronic pain. Therapy for chronic pain primarily targets improvements in physical, emotional, social, and occupational functioning rather than focusing on the resolution of pain itself. Chronic pain management can feel overwhelming. Among the many strategies we use are pacing, relaxation, acceptance, and cognitive behavioral skills to challenge negative thoughts and self-talk.

    • Acid reflux or ulcers

    • Back and neck pain

    • Cancer

    • Endometriosis

    • Fibromyalgia

    • Headaches and migraine disease

    • Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

    • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

    • Lyme disease

    • Muscle strains and sprains

    • Nerve damage

    • Rheumatoid Arthritis

    • Surgeries

Book laying on bed

Online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia

At Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center, we deliver evidence-based modalities focusing on stimulus control, sleep consolidation, sleep hygiene, behavioral modification, relaxation techniques, and cognitive processes to help women achieve lasting improvements in sleep quality, quantity, and overall well-being.

    • Chronic or acute insomnia

    • Inadequate sleep hygiene

    • Psychophysiological insomnia due to medical or psychiatric illness

    • Sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, hypersomnia, parasomnias, and sleep apnea)

Dr. Lisandra Mendoza cutting apple

Online therapy for weight loss, smoking cessation, and lifestyle modification

The research is clear — losing weight and quitting smoking (and staying off tobacco/nicotine) is attainable through therapy. An experienced clinician's support is fundamental for achieving lifestyle and health goals. 

At Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center, we use an integrative care approach, which includes motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, and behavioral modification to support your journey to better your lifestyle.

    • Achieve a lifestyle change for better chronic illness management

    • Cope with distress related to diet conversion (to vegetarian, vegan, or carnivorous diets) and stay motivated

    • Improve nutrition

    • Lose weight, keep it off and learn weight management strategies

    • Quit smoking

Woman sitting up stretching in bed

Online therapy for infertility and fertility issues

Navigating fertility issues and infertility can be a tremendously painful process. At Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center, we provide patient-centered care and an empathetic space to process your emotional struggles resulting from infertility and fertility issues. We used a variety of approaches with a focus on problem-solving, stress management, short-term crisis management, behaviors and thoughts, lifestyle modification, and others in an integrative manner.

    • Adoption

    • Cancer

    • Grief and loss

    • High-risk pregnancy

    • Hormone problems

    • Invitro fertilization (IVF)

    • Perinatal illnesses

    • Sexual dysfunction

    • Surgery recovery

We Speak English & Spanish

We Speak English & Spanish ❇

At Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center, we use an integrative care approach rooted in Clinical Health Psychology interventions

  • Alzheimer’s disease and dementia care

  • Brain health

  • Caregiver stress

  • Disability 

  • Epilepsy and seizures

  • Geriatric and aging issues

We can also support you with:

  • Gut/brain axis & microbiome health

  • Medical trauma

  • Post-bariatric and oncology surgeries and cancer and dialysis treatments

  • Spinal cord stimulator impact 

  • Stroke recovery

We provide holistic online therapy through mind-body-spirit care

We understand that achieving and maintaining optimal well-being involves more than addressing physical symptoms. Our seasoned psychologists and therapists are dedicated to helping women navigate the intricate relationship between mental and physical health.

Our approach is rooted in the understanding that chronic conditions can become more manageable with the right behavioral strategies

You can reclaim control of your health and well-being!

Our approach is grounded in the belief that we all are more than our thoughts. We are also our bodies, emotions, experiences, hopes, desires, energy, and spirituality, all of which give us identity, determine our physical and mental health, and make us unique. 

One of the crucial aspects of our work is guiding women to a mindset of taking responsibility for their life path, including medical care, and being the best advocates for themselves. Through person-centered clinical health psychology, we assist you in embracing wellness care. We aim to share knowledge and empowerment and walk you through an enlightened path to healing and positive transformation. You can enhance your physical and mental health and efficiently manage chronic medical conditions. You can reclaim control over your health and well-being with the proper professional support! We provide practical guidance for aligning lifestyle choices with your health goals. 

If you’re ready to move beyond disease to efficiently manage a chronic illness such as chronic pain or insomnia and enhance your overall quality of life, schedule an appointment today!

Dr. Lisandra Mendoza standing next to counter top eating apples

Do you wonder about the benefits of working with a clinical health psychologist?

Know that a clinical health psychologist understands that mind-body-spirit alignment is fundamental for living well. Hence, a health psychologist ensures that the eight dimensions of wellness that impact human well-being are addressed. 

It’s essential to move our bodies and stimulate our minds. Still, it’s equally important to name and respect our feelings, develop community and intimate relationships, find purpose, engage in meaningful work, be financially literate, and understand how our actions impact our planet and environment. 

We partner with our patients to address these eight areas of wellness:

5. Occupational or vocational

6. Physical

7. Social

8. Spiritual*

1. Emotional

2. Environmental

3. Financial

4. Intellectual

*Spiritual does not necessarily mean religious; it refers to engaging in activities that align with your values and contribute to your sense of meaning and purpose. At Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center, we welcome women from all faiths and walks of life.

We believe in holistic healing, which means addressing the root of your problem or discomfort rather than just masking it

By addressing these eight areas of wellness in therapy, we work together to bolster your self-esteem, develop your self-trust, and tap into the profound wisdom you already possess to live a fulfilling life

Therapies we use:

At Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center, we use cognitive, behavioral, and humanistic evidence-based therapies to best meet your needs.

  • For far too long, you may have been trying to avoid or control “negative” emotions like anger, sadness, or fear. With ACT, you’ll learn to accept whatever comes up for you so that those big, overwhelming emotions lose their power. If you’re ready to face your pain, define your values, and commit to living them, ACT can help.

  • CBT helps you unveil the links between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It encourages curiosity and helps you replace unhelpful thoughts with healthier ones. You will learn the skills to recognize your patterns, and hence, with time… you can become your own therapist!

  • Ever wondered why bedtime is when your brain becomes the most active and your thoughts become the loudest? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia helps you explore your thoughts and actions surrounding sleep. Together, we’ll retrain your brain so that you can get a better night’s sleep. Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, you’ll learn to quiet your mind and make minor adjustments with a major payoff so you can get the rest you need.

  • Does your body often feel as if it’s working against you rather than with you? Does your pain often disrupt even the simplest tasks in your day? Chronic pain—apart from feeling physically unbearable—may make you feel helpless and hopeless. With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for chronic pain, we’ll put you back in the driver’s seat. You’ll cultivate a sense of physiological control and find some relief from your pain. We know your pain is real and excruciating, and we are here to help.

  • You’ve probably heard of mindfulness—and together, we’ll explore its benefits. You may find that when you pay close attention, live on purpose, and release judgment; you experience a profound transformation. Improving patience, trust, love, kindness, and compassion for self and others are some of the benefits of this practice. We will also teach you stress reduction techniques to help you breathe through life’s chaotic moments.

Are you ready to take control of your chronic illness, pain, or insomnia rather than letting it control you?

You don’t have to feel lost anymore. You’re no longer alone navigating the pain, exhaustion, and confusion that comes with managing your health. You have the ability to live a meaningful and joyful life! It’s time to get back in the driver’s seat and make value-aligned choices that support your wellness. 

Start online therapy in Florida with one of our clinical health psychologists or therapists

If you find yourself navigating the complexities of living with a chronic condition, we invite you to embark on a journey with us at Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center. Together, we’ll navigate the path to well-being, one tailored behavioral change at a time.

Do you have questions?

Get in touch with us today via the contact form below, or by phone (call or text) or e-mail

(305) 204-3616 | info@avatarcbc.com

Are you interested in embarking on a
journey towards self-actualization?

Look no further! 

Avatar Cognitive and Behavioral Center offers holistic assessment and care, as well as evidence-based treatments provided by our team of expert psychologists and therapists 

Our services include online Neuropsychological and Psychological Evaluations and Therapy tailored specifically for Women in Florida