Myrna Engler, LCSW-S, RPT, PLLC
Licensed Clinical Social Worker – Supervisor
Myrna Engler is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Registered Play Therapist with over 15 years of experience. She works with children, teenagers, adults, and families of diverse ethnicity and provides individual, play, and family therapy. Myrna also provides bilingual counseling and is fluent in Spanish.
Her aim is to establish a non-judgmental environment in which there is emotional safety. In therapy, she works with her clients together as a team to understand how anxiety, depression, prior relationships, intergenerational trauma, and what is in the unconscious that may show up in personal, parenting and professional relationships.
Myrna also loves working with families and helping parents with their relationships with their children. She feels that parenthood is an ever-changing process, and she is here to help with each phase of parenting development. Myrna loves to help parents navigate the changing seasons of parenthood. She will help parents collaborate together on improving relationships with the self-first, child/children, and as a family.
Her most meaningful work is with parents who are dedicated to growing and seeking to strengthen their relationship with their child, while also being open to growing as individuals. When caregivers feel supported and grounded, children and families thrive. When parents tune in to their child’s emotions and needs, it helps the child feel safe, understood and more able to manage their feelings.
Play therapy is also one of Myrna’s specialties. For children, play becomes the language of healing and self-discovery through symbolic play. For parents, the goal is not about getting everything right or perfect. It’s about the ever changing process where both parent and child may discover and understand their inner world and how it affects their outer world. Curiosity starts with reflective parenting, a mentalization-based techinique in which parents learn about what is going on inside their child’s mind. It is less about reacting to behavior and more about being interested in what is driving it.
Myrna’s office is a safe space full of tools and toys to help children learn through play. She has years of experience in helping children heal from trauma and grief through play.
Myrna’s Education and Experience
Myrna graduated from The University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work and attended The University of Houston for her undergraduate Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
She is currently in advanced training in Adult & Child Psychoanalytic Thinking Programs at theCenter for Psychoanalytic Studies, Houston, Texas. Prior to opening her private practice, she received significant experience working with sexually abused children and their non-offending families at The Children’s Assessment Center.
Myrna’s Clinical Approach
Myrna loves including parents as they navigate raising their child, teenager, and young adult through development stages. Additionally, she works with parents who are seeking ways to improve parenting skills as they experience their own personal struggles. When her clients first come to her, they notice a change in their child's attitude and behaviors and may also experience changes in their own lives. Her philosophy is that what worked in a different stage of a child’s development doesn't necessarily work now. Childhood changes may cause stressors even to the most patient of parents. She is here to help parents with this difficult job and guide them through all the stages.
Myrna’s Areas of Practice
Her areas of practice include:
Depression
Anxiety
Grief / Loss
Play Therapy
Transitional Issues
Intergenerational Trauma
Family relationship Issues
Parenting Skills
Myrna’s therapeutic modalities include psychodynamic psychotherapy, psychoanalytic thinking psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy.
Counseling Services Provided by Myrna:
On a Personal Note
Myrna loves spending time with her family, husband and two daughters. Additionally, she enjoys exploring renovated buildings, bed and breakfasts and places off the beaten path.