Dr. Camara’s expertise is in helping individuals achieve overall wellness in both mind and body. She specializes in treating anxiety, depression, stress, OCD, and a wide variety of health conditions, including fertility and perinatal concerns. She uses therapies aimed to increase positive behaviors, improve health, and enhance quality of life, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and mindfulness. She considers each client’s unique background and personal goals to create individualized treatments and explores personal values to help clients live more meaningful lives in the present moment. Dr. Camara’s specialty areas include:
- Coping with health conditions, such as infertility, insomnia, chronic pain, tinnitus, obesity, and chronic and terminal illnesses
- Postpartum and perinatal mental health
- Coping with infertility or subfertility
- Changes in desired health/lifestyle habits, such as exercising more, reducing comfort eating, or increasing consistency with lifestyle changes recommended by your physician
- Anxiety, including Health Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Phobias, Panic, and GAD
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and related concerns
- Depression
- Stress management and life transitions
Dr. Camara received her doctorate from George Fox University where she earned a Special Commendation Award for Leadership Contribution. She obtained extensive training and experience in health psychology, which involves managing and coping with medical challenges, improving health behaviors, preventing illness or the worsening of medical conditions, and improving stress management to promote whole body wellness. After her own experience navigating the challenges of infertility, Dr. Camara pursued specialized training in treating postpartum, perinatal, and infertility concerns. From her experience working in healthcare settings and hospitals, she is skilled at coordinating care and consulting with her clients’ other medical providers as needed.
Throughout her career, Dr. Camara has taught and trained healthcare providers, medical students, and other psychologists in Motivational Interviewing, effective patient communication techniques, and mindfulness interventions. Her graduate research focused on an interdisciplinary approach to treat chronic pain in the primary care setting. She trained at the Cleveland VA Medical Center and the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System where she completed rotations in pain management, oncology, hospice and palliative care, inpatient psychiatry, and health promotion disease prevention.
Dr. Camara is originally from the Pacific Northwest, where she developed a love for nature and animals. She enjoys being a mama of a sweet little boy, who was made with the help of science via IVF, and also has a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.