Kimberly Arlinghaus, MD
I've had the privilege of working in private practice, academic medicine at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston and in community health at Lone Star Circle of Care in Round Rock, Texas. All of these experiences—and each patient along the way—have taught me a great deal, making me the doctor I am today...more focused on who the patient is rather than what the patient has and recognizing the power of holistic healing rather than being limited to what’s inside a pill.
I care about your mind, your body, your life, your loves, your losses and fears, your traumas and triumphs. As a psychiatrist and therapist, it is an indescribable privilege to be invited into someone’s soul…the place that is uniquely you, a place of discovery, worthy of sensitivity and respect, compassion and understanding…a timeless place, haunted by the past—both good and bad—hopeful in the promise of the future. Many of us struggle, locked up in the past or worried about the future; no matter where you find yourself, I’d like to help you live more in the present with peace and contentment, satisfied with who you are and all you wish to be.
In order to help you decide if I’m the right psychiatrist for you, I've highlighted my professional experiences below.
Professional Experience
- Private Practice
- Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
- Neuropsychiatry
- Integrated Behavioral Health
- Academic Psychiatry
- Mental Health Executive Leadership
- Education
- Advocacy
In the first five years of my career, I had the privilege of helping men and women struggling with stress and loss; trauma and abuse; relationship problems; work pressures; difficulties at school; developmental challenges of defining one’s identity, dealing with intimacy, role strain, and aging; cultural issues such as being perceived as “different” and suffering the pain of discrimination; among countless other trials and tribulations that bring one to the attention of a mental health provider. Unlike many psychiatrists, I received extensive training in psychotherapy during my residency at Baylor College of Medicine. Many of my teachers were affiliated with the Houston- Galveston Psychoanalytic Institute where I received a scholarship as a junior and senior resident to do a personal psychoanalysis. This extraordinary experience enriched my ability to understand the pain and suffering of the human condition as well as the daunting task of exposing one’s deepest secrets, fears, and foibles to another person. This is where I learned the power of combining psychotherapy with medication management. Utilizing my training in psychodynamic brief and long-term therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, supportive therapy, and crisis intervention, I offered a holistic blend of therapies to my patients, including state-of-the-art psychopharmacologic management (medications for mood and anxiety disorders, psychosis, substance abuse, ADHD, dementia, behavioral problems, etc.) and a variety of psychotherapies (individual, couples, family, and group).
Branch of psychiatry focused on the interface of physical and mental illnesses. As a resident in training in 1987, I created the first Psychiatry “C/L” service at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in Houston, Texas, working with patients who had been catastrophically injured from spinal cord injuries, amputations, and traumatic brain injuries. In 1995, I moved to the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in Houston to direct a large C/L teaching service with medical students and psychiatry residents, helping male and female Veterans hospitalized with physical problems impacted by their mental illness. After relocating to the Austin area in 2011, I served as Director of the Psychiatry C/L Service at Seton Medical Center Williamson in Round Rock, working with patients in general medical/surgical units and intensive care struggling with medical and psychiatric problems.
Subspecialty of psychiatry dealing with problems in thinking, feeling, and behaving resulting from injury to the brain. Through my work with patients at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in Houston, Texas, strengthened by knowledge gained in special “brain and behavior” courses hosted by Harvard Medical School, I created the first neuropsychiatry curriculum at Baylor College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences which I directed for 21 years. My rich experience in traumatic brain injury (TBI) at TIRR prepared me well for tackling the challenges presented by Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, many of whom suffered brain injuries from improvised explosive devices (IEDs). As the Mental Health Care Line Deputy Executive at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in Houston, I designed special neuropsychiatry programming and assisted with acquiring a $5 million grant to build a state-of-the-art, nationally recognized Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence where I served as Medical Director and Co-Principal Investigator.
Holistic, patient-centered “health home” providing coordinated, co-located primary and mental health care. Having always practiced in an integrated fashion as a consultation/liaison psychiatrist, I created the first embedded behavioral health clinics at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in Houston, eventually building a large integrated behavioral health program that served as a model for the Gulf Coast Veterans Integrated Service Network, leading to my regional and national roles as a clinical director and education consultant for primary care/behavioral health within the VA. In 2011 I moved to Lone Star Circle of Care (LSCC) in the Austin area, renowned for its award-winning behaviorally enhanced medical home model of care, where I served as Medical Director for Behavioral Health while also providing care to patients struggling with a full spectrum of mental health disorders. Using a blend of psychotherapy interventions, including cognitive-behavioral and dialectical behavior therapy skills, along with medication management, I gained further experience in treating mood disorders (depression and bipolar disorder), anxiety (including generalized anxiety, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder), trauma (posttraumatic stress disorder), substance abuse, adjustment reactions to losses and hardships in life, personality disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and psychosis schizophrenia schizoaffective disorder.
21 years of teaching and research as a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences as well as the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas followed by appointment to Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Texas A&M College of Medicine in Round Rock, Texas in 2012 where I continue to teach medical students. Over the years I have created more than 50 lectures presented on one or more occasions to medical students, residents, and/or allied health trainees; provided clinical teaching, supervision, and mentoring to hundreds of medical and allied health trainees in the practice of psychiatry and psychotherapy; and authored/co-authored 18 publications including peer-reviewed papers, abstracts, books, educational brochures, videos/DVDs, and articles.
16 years at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas, and 2 years at Lone Star Circle of Care in Central Texas, supervising psychiatrists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, licensed professional counselors, addiction counselors, and registered nurses, and directing/creating mental health programming in specialty areas including women’s mental health, trauma recovery, integrated behavioral health, geriatric psychiatry, substance abuse, and emergency psychiatry throughout the continuum of care (inpatient, partial hospital, residential, intensive outpatient, and outpatient).
More than 225 presentations to a wide variety of professional and community audiences about numerous topics including the impact of stress on the mind and body, women’s mental health, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, suicide, substance abuse, catastrophic injury, integrated behavioral health, dementia, psychiatry in the medically-ill, traumatic brain injury in civilians, Veterans, and the United States Armed Forces, working with the gay or lesbian patient, psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and a variety of presentations about medical education, leadership, as well as models of healthcare delivery.
Membership and committee work in national, regional, state and local professional associations and community groups working to stamp out mental health stigma and support patients and families whose lives are impacted by mental illness as well as traumatic brain injury. I actively support the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and have enjoyed opportunities to educate te public about mental illness in a variety of venues/forums including schools, churches, businesses, military bases/events, advocacy groups and expositions as well as through radio, TV and print media.
