Dr. Ileana Hernandez

Many people come to therapy feeling anxious, depressed, in pain, exhausted — and sometimes wondering why their life feels smaller or harder than it used to. Often, these experiences aren’t signs that something is wrong with you. They’re signs of a nervous system that has been under strain for a long time and has been doing its best to get you through. My work focuses on helping adults move from survival toward a felt sense of safety, using a gentle, simplified approach that is mindful of not overwhelming an already taxed nervous system. When people begin to feel safer internally, the body and mind often start to settle, rebalance, and open to change in natural ways. I work compassionately and collaboratively with adults experiencing anxiety, depression, chronic stress, and other persistent mindbody symptoms, including chronic pain, migraines or headaches, dizziness, IBS, and jaw tension or TMJ-related symptoms. My approach is grounded in the understanding that our thoughts, emotions, bodies, and nervous systems are deeply interconnected and that healing happens most effectively when we work with the whole person. Rather than seeing therapy as something that “fixes” you, I see it as a process of helping you reconnect with your own inner resources. This work is not about doing more or trying harder. It’s about learning to listen to your body’s signals, developing greater steadiness and ease, and creating more space for connection, meaning, and joy. My approach is nervous system–informed and mindbody oriented, shaped by both professional training and lived experience. Having navigated my own healing from chronic symptoms, I bring deep respect for how challenging this work can be and for how possible change truly is. You don’t have to do this alone. My role is to walk alongside you with guidance, compassion, and steady support, helping you make sense of what your body and nervous system are communicating and translating that understanding into meaningful, sustainable change. About Me I am a licensed psychotherapist (LMHC) with a PhD in psychology, providing telehealth therapy to adults in Florida. I am also a Certified Mindfulness Teacher, trained through UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. My professional background includes over a decade of work at Florida International University, where I served as an educational developer and have taught undergraduate and graduate-level psychology and counseling courses as adjunct faculty. I bring a strong foundation in teaching, applied psychology, and contemplative practice to my clinical work.