Karina Astigarrabia Ferraz

I'm Karina Astigarrabia Ferraz, PMHNP-BC — a Board-certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner practicing in Florida. Before specializing in psychiatry, I spent years as a Board certified nurse in cardiac intensive care, an experience that deepened my understanding of how the mind and body are inseparable. That background shapes the way I practice: I see mental health as rooted in biology, physiology, and lived experience — not just symptoms to be managed. I believe therapy is one of the most powerful and underutilized tools in mental health care. My work centers on evidence-based approaches — Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Interpersonal Therapy — integrated with a positive psychiatry framework that focuses on your strengths, resilience, and capacity to heal. When medication is appropriate, I incorporate it thoughtfully as part of a broader, individualized plan. Clients often describe me as warm, unhurried, and genuinely curious about their lives. I collaborate with Brain X Dynamics as an independent clinician, sharing a commitment to whole-person, holistic care — including attention to brain metabolism and the biological foundations of emotional well-being.

My approach is collaborative, evidence-based, and deeply individualized. I draw primarily from CBT, DBT, and Interpersonal therapy — frameworks that give us practical tools for understanding thought patterns, managing emotions, navigating relationships, and building skills you can carry beyond our sessions. I practice within a Positive psychiatry philosophy, which means we spend as much time building on your strengths as we do addressing your challenges. I'm particularly interested in the role of brain metabolism and neurobiological health in emotional well-being — and how lifestyle, physiology, spirituality and psychology interact to either fuel or hinder recovery. I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all model. Some clients benefit from therapy alone; others from medication; many from both. Whatever path we take, you will always be an active participant in the decisions. My role is to listen carefully, offer clinical perspective, and walk alongside you — not ahead of you.

Your first session will feel more like a conversation than an evaluation. I'll start by simply getting to know you — your story, what's brought you here, and what you're hoping to feel or experience differently. There's no pressure to have everything figured out before we meet. We'll complete a comprehensive psychiatric assessment, including your history, any previous treatment, and medication background if relevant. I'll also ask about your day-to-day life — sleep, energy, relationships, stress — because those details matter to how I understand you as a whole person. By the end of our first meeting, you'll leave with a clear sense of what we observed together, an initial set of goals, and a proposed direction — whether that involves therapy techniques, medication, or a combination of both. My priority is that you walk out feeling genuinely heard and confident about what comes next. I bring warmth and patience to every session. You don't need to perform wellness here — you just need to show up.