ABOUT MACKENZIE

Hey there, my name is Mackenzie [Fowler] Balderaz. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and I have been working in the mental health field since 2011. I am a Houston area native, and have an eclectic CV of experience.

In 2012  I graduated with my Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from Judson University in the greater Chicago area. Although I initially went there because of a soccer scholarship, I quickly learned I was there for another reason. Thanks to amazing professors and advisors, I knew I was on the right path. In addition to my academics, I gained experience in both a group home for adolescents as well as an in-patient facility. 

Somehow, I ended up close to home for graduate school. I attended The University of Houston -Clear Lake, which was then one of the top ranked Marriage and Family Therapy programs in the country. My internship was at The Children's Assessment Center, and I attribute that experience into catipulting me into my next adventure.

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Upon graduating with my MA in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2014, I was hired to help create and run a residential treatment program with the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department (HCJPD) that specialized in work with girls ages 12-17 that had been involved in human trafficking, or were considered "at risk". 

During my time being in partnership with HCJPD, I was able to become certified in a varity of trauma informed trainings, and also present on similar topics throughout the country.

For the past 5 years (yes, the week before the world shut down in 2020), I have exclusively been in private practice. I trust this is where I am supposed to be. I learn something newevery day, and believe I help someone every day.  

I hate answering that fun question that asks "what do you do for fun/in your free time". Realistically, I hang out with my husband, my 3 dogs, and watch trash tv (think Bravo and other reality TV series). I like to travel and go to festivals, and seem to obsess over the same couple recipies until I feel like I have perfected them.

 

This life is crazy, and it always will be.