Patricia was born and raised in Burlington, Vermont.  Her high school educational path was unusual and self-directed.  After earning a diploma at 16, she tutored other nontraditional students for several years before doing a bit a traveling and ultimately settling in the Northampton area.  She had always thought about being a therapist, and after working at the education center and seeing the needs of the community, social work felt like the right pathway.  Once settled in Massachusetts, she completed an undergraduate degree in social work at Elms College and a Master of Social Work at Boston College.   

Over the years, Patricia has worked with children, adolescents, young adults, and families in many different settings.  One of her graduate school internships was as a member of a multidisciplinary assessment team.  She sees working integrated in a medical practice all these years later as the natural progression from those roots.  She loves working with the providers and the patients at Holyoke Pediatrics and looks forward to continuing to grow her skills here. 

Patricia believes that all people have the ability to grow and change.  She uses a relational and collaborative, trauma informed approach that allows space for the experiences of one’s own identity.  Her areas of clinical practice have been varied and include mood disorders, transitions, grief, and trauma.  She always strives to provide a safe and therapeutic environment.  

When she isn’t at HPA, sometimes Patricia is providing clinical supervision to other social workers in a local clinic.  Sometimes she is making art or reading.  She also thrift shops for fun, and has a gallery in her home of local donated, and discarded original art.  She has amazing adult children who are out in the world living life, and super spoiled cats that are at home keeping her company.  She enjoys cooking with friends and family, baking bread, and making ice cream.  

Dr. Morell was born in Bridgeport Ct, and at the age of five, she moved to Puerto Rico where she lived until completing her graduate studies. She always had the goal of moving back to New England, and did so promptly after graduation in 2008. Here she has worked many years with populations of diverse backgrounds from a varied range of ages, from childhood to adulthood, and was able to acknowledge the importance of culture and the history for each individual. Dr. Morell is fluent in both English and Spanish. 

She believes in a multidisciplinary approach where families and health providers work hand in hand as a team to achieve goals. She values rapport and the trust of the people she serves. She strongly believes on the importance of listening. Dr. Morell is very creative and energetic and loves to develop treatment plans focused on the person’s needs, detailing this in an achievable way. Some of her interest include mood disorders, emotional management, ADHD, interpersonal dynamics and behavior functioning, among others. In the last couple of years, she has also provided clinical supervision to fellow psychologist. Her goals in supervision has been to provide support and empowerment to the clinician as well as to foster a learning environment.  

Outside of her office, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, buying books, journaling, playing video games and doing anything crafty.  

Dr. Vicki is originally from Binghamton, NY, and completed her undergraduate studies at the State University of New York at Geneseo. After graduating, she moved to Northern Virginia and completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA focusing on therapeutic work with children and families as well as identifying and supporting clients with behavioral and learning difficulties.  She is trained in both providing therapeutic services as well as psychological testing.

Dr. Vicki has many years of experience working with children, adolescents, and families in various levels of care including outpatient clinics, private group practice, therapeutic schools, a residential setting, and medical settings.  She was working in Connecticut, but pursued her license in Massachusetts a few years ago and is currently licensed to practice in both states.  Prior to coming to HPA, she worked at another medical practice, honing her skills as a behavioral health consultant.  Dr. Vicki is flexible in her treatment style and draws techniques from a variety of different therapeutic approaches.  However, she puts a strong emphasis on cognitive-behavioral techniques, addressing the connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and building on strengths.  She also believes that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is the key to the success of treatment and works hard to help children and families feel comfortable, understood, and respected.  Dr. Vicki has experience supporting children and families through a wide range of life stressors and behavioral health concerns including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, anger/ aggressive behaviors, trauma, loss, divorce, family conflict, and parenting concerns as well as developmental concerns such as ADHD, educational/ learning difficulties, and autism.  Dr. Vicki’s areas of specialization and interest include collaborating with schools, interventions for children with higher functioning autism, supporting parents with co-parenting after a divorce, and coping with trauma and loss. 

When not working, Dr. Vicki enjoys spending time with her family:  hiking on local trails, swimming, watching movies, and taking car trips to explore the beauty of New England.  When she has a little time to herself, she likes to read and put together jigsaw puzzles.   She has been a cat owner for many years, but has recently also welcomed a rambunctious black lab rescue dog into the family.