Cristal Martinez Acosta has been serving as a mental health clinician in the El Paso, Texas Borderland area since 2011. Cristal is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Board Approved Supervisor (LPC-S) in the state of Texas and a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) through the National Board of Certified Counselors. She graduated with honors from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology. Then she attended New Mexico State University, where she earned a Master of Arts in Counseling and Guidance with a 4.0 GPA.

Cristal has experience working with youth and adults who have been affected by traumatic events. Her areas of interest are parenting support, childhood abuse, domestic violence, anxiety, high-risk youth, depression, Reality Therapy, and immigration issues. She is certified in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and the region’s only Level One Trainer in Parent Child Interaction Therapy (via PCIT International). She is also trained, and pursuing certification, in EMDR. She has taught licensed professionals, school counselors, and other community members in the areas of Trauma Informed Care, PCIT, and TF-CBT. She also supervises developing counseling professionals and students and is currently accepting applications for LPC-Interns. To learn more about Cristal, or to listen to her free mental health podcast, please visit www.throughtheeyesofatherapist.org.