Meet Dr. Robin Barry
Meet Dr. Robin Barry. Dr. Barry is a Licensed Psychologist with a Doctoral Degree from the University of Iowa. Robin has a special interest and training in treating couples, family caregivers, and individuals with depression or anxiety. She is dedicated to providing person-centered, strengths-based, and culturally competent care.
Q: How would you describe yourself as a therapist?
R: As a therapist, I would describe myself as client-centered and evidence-based. The client is the expert on their experiences and what works for them. So, I try to listen carefully to clients and ask for their feedback to guide our work together and help me understand. I also rely on research evidence about what works best for which clients.
Q: What’s your favorite family recipe? Will you share?
R: My favorite family recipe is breaded chicken. You put eggs in one bowl, flour in a second bowl add some salt to the flour), and half panko bread crumbs, half parmesan cheese in a third bowl. Dry off the pieces of chicken and season with salt and pepper, then coat the chicken in flour, then egg, then the bread crumb mix. Put the chicken pieces on a grease baking sheet then bake at 375 til done. If you turn the chicken half-way through both sides will get golden. It’s probably better to fry the chicken, but I don’t care to get spattered by grease. You can top it with shredded parmesan and tomato sauce over spaghetti noodles to turn it into chicken parm.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time?
R: Listen to audiobooks.
Q: What is LIV to you?
R: LIV is an amazing organization that is addressing so many unmet needs in our communities. To me personally (as a PRN therapist), LIV provides me with an opportunity to practice my skills as a therapist and to help people.
Q: What advice/tips would you give someone who is struggling with dealing with the pandemic, or daily life things in general?
R: When we are experiencing distress or depression (very normal responses to things going on these days), it is really hard to do the healthy things that we know help us feel better. For example, depressive symptoms make it harder for us to reach out to people we know are supportive or fun to talk to, or to go for a walk. We have to fight the depressive symptoms or anxiety and keep trying to do the healthy things that we know help us, and be kind to ourselves when we are struggling.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do for self-care?
R: My favorite self-care is talking with or spending time with supportive friends. It’s difficult to do because I’m a bit of an introvert and like many people, I have a difficult time reaching out to others, but it is the activity that helps me the most.