Heathrow Psychology

by Jill Cousins 

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person therapy practices in 2020, Heathrow Psychology in Lake Mary bounced back much sooner than most. Clinic founder Dr. Erica Karlinsky and her soon-to-be business partner Bob O’Brien talked almost daily about how difficult it was to treat patients via telehealth video chats and how it wasn’t the same as an office visit – for themselves and their clients.

So, as soon as Florida’s mandatory lockdown was lifted, the clinic began seeing patients in the office once again. 

“We were one of the only practices seeing people in person,” says Erica. “We wore masks; we sat six-to-eight feet apart. I’ll do anything to see people in person, rather than virtually. You cannot do the same work through a screen.”

Bob had interned at Erica’s practice and had begun working as a therapist there just days before the lockdown. He knew that quickly returning to in-person visits was the right thing to do for his clients.

“They were always so distracted, especially during that time,” he says. “They were distracted by dogs, by kids. Husbands were home. Everyone was home.”

Many mental health practitioners have since closed their offices permanently and now only work virtually. Not Heathrow Psychology. When Erica took Bob on as a business partner in July 2021, they put together a five-year plan to eventually have six therapists at the practice. They met that goal in only 18 months. Now, they have 10 therapists and have outgrown their office in the Lake Mary Professional Campus complex.

A second office, in the Longwood/Altamonte Springs area, is set to open this summer. Heathrow Psychology offers individual, couples, adolescent, family, and play therapy. The practice’s clients currently range in age from four to 90+.

While stress directly related to the pandemic may have lessened, social media and the current political climate have created anxiety that is through the roof for many of Heathrow                         Psychology’s clients.       

“There’s a need, and we don’t want to say no to anybody,” says Erica. “We will do everything we can to make sure our clients get what they need, and we also make sure our therapists are really happy. We love that Heathrow Psychology is like a family, and when our clients walk in, they feel that.”