Katie Herrington, Clinical Director, Clinical Psychologist, PhD, HSP
Dr. Herrington is the Clinical Director as well as a licensed clinical psychologist dedicated to the development of courageous, resilient children, adolescents, and young adults by affirming and caring for the whole person.
Dr. Herrington specializes in providing evidence-based therapy to children and adolescents ages 2+ with a wide variety of presenting concerns, which includes but is not limited to: depression, anxiety (social, worry, panic, specific fears, performance), obsessive-compulsive disorder, coping with the stress associated with living with an acute or chronic medical condition (e.g., adjustment to a new diagnosis, treatment, or chronic pain), trauma, and adjustment to life transitions.
In her work, Dr. Herrington focuses on caring for the whole-person – their thoughts, emotions, behaviors, physical, and spiritual well-being. She is dedicated to fostering an authentic and meaningful working relationship with her patients, one in which they feel heard and valued. Her priority is to serve patients not only through an in-depth knowledge of therapeutic techniques and standardized assessments but to care for them from a place of compassion, affirming their value as individuals and providing them tools to see their inherent worthiness.
Dr. Herrington uses evidenced-based treatment approaches, as they have been scientifically tested and proven to work, which include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Dr. Herrington recently received training on the evidenced-based therapy Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) and is eager to help parents learn how to best help their anxious children and teens. Dr. Herrington integrates and uses these techniques flexibly, taking into consideration the individual’s unique background and strengths. She helps individuals understand the complex mind-body interactions between physical symptoms and stress and how this affects daily functioning. She conducts a thorough initial interview to best understand the patient’s concerns and goals. Throughout the therapeutic process, she also asks the child and parent to complete standardized questionnaires, which provides a quantitative measure of treatment effectiveness. When working with young children, therapy works best when it involves close collaboration with parents. This extensive parental involvement helps to both inform and monitor the child’s progress, and also to ensure that parents feel equipped and encouraged to support their child’s health and development. Dr. Herrington also collaborates with other professionals, such as your child’s pediatrician and psychiatrist, to provide the highest quality of integrated care.
Assessment:
Dr. Herrington also provides psychological assessment services. Dr. Herrington has expertise in the assessment of autism spectrum disorders, learning and cognitive differences, behavioral disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She is research reliable on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2), the gold standard autism assessment.
Professional:
Dr. Herrington obtained her undergraduate degree in Child Development from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University in 2005. Equipped with this strong background in typical child development, Dr. Herrington wanted to learn more about how children and adolescents not only cope with adversity but, in fact, emerge as thriving, resilient individuals.
Thus, Dr. Herrington earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University, completed her clinical internship at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, and fulfilled a clinical post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Zachary Warren and Dr. Cassandra Newsom at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) and the Division of Developmental Medicine at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
In her professional training programs, Dr. Herrington received clinical training focused on evidence-based interventions to treat a range of emotional and behavioral concerns (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress, trauma, parent/child interactions, management of chronic health conditions). Dr. Herrington gained extensive, real-world experience in individual therapy and the psychological assessment of youth as well as experience working with families with acute care needs in the child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient units and the emergency department. At UNC, Dr. Herrington received specialized training working as a member of a multidisciplinary consultation/liaison team caring for individuals and families with chronic and acute medical illnesses. During her fellowship, Dr. Herrington worked with families seeking to better understand their child’s development by providing comprehensive diagnostic and developmental assessments. She received specialized training in diagnosing autism spectrum disorder. Given her commitment to whole-person care, Dr. Herrington initiated and established a healthcare model of embedded behavioral and psychological health consultation appointments within a primary care setting at Vanderbilt’s University Pediatrics practice.
Prior to co-founding Green Hills Family Psych, Dr. Herrington maintained a thriving private practice at Nashville Child and Family Wellness Center. Currently, Dr. Herrington remains on faculty at Vanderbilt teaching cognitive-behavioral therapy to psychiatry fellows.
Personal:
Dr. Herrington was born in North Carolina, and also lived in Indiana, Kentucky, and Connecticut before moving to Tennessee in 2001. Dr. Herrington’s personal interests and hobbies include traveling, hiking, reading, exploring Nashville’s new restaurants, volunteering in her church and community, and spending time outdoors. Dr. Herrington is the proud mom of two young girls.