Sheila Lopez, Ph.D.

Sheila Lopez provides therapy to children of all ages, but she works primarily with kids ages 11 and older. Sessions are held both in person or via telehealth and cover a range of needs, including anxiety, depression, ADHD and general school challenges.

“I really enjoy working with kids,” she says. “Kids often have a lot of mental health needs and circumstances that are often outside of their control, so I find a lot of value in being able to be an advocate for kids that are struggling and helping them build skills.”

Therapist

Therapy sessions can include individual counseling or joint sessions with parents and kids. Dr. Lopez finds fulfillment in helping families navigate the adolescent years when children are facing all kinds of changes in their lives. For many families, it can be a stressful time.

“Parenting is hard,” she says. “If I can help the family navigate that period of time especially, that’s really fulfilling for me, and it’s great for me to see the growth in the families that I work with.”

Education

Shelia has worked as a school psychologist in Oregon, Colorado and Utah as well as in family therapy and in education specialist roles. She earned her undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, in Family Life and Human Development. She then earned both her master’s in psychology and education specialist degrees at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. She earned her Ph.D. in School Psychology at the University of Oregon in 2021.

While studying at the UO, she says she fell in love with Oregon and returned here after spending a year interning in New Jersey. Sheila joined Thrive Behavioral Health, part of Eugene Pediatric Associates, in 2022 as a resident and then as a licensed psychologist in December 2023.

Collaboration

In continuing her work at EPA, Dr. Lopez says it’s a great environment because EPA offers integrated aspects of both mental and physical health. Collaboration between medical providers and mental providers under one roof is a great resource.

“I definitely feel like an embraced member of the team and appreciate that we’re able to treat the full child, all together in one place.”

Fun Facts

Sheila enjoys going on nature walks, visiting parks, taking bike rides and just spending time outdoors. Now that she’s completed her extensive education, she’s really enjoying getting back into reading for fun, taking in murder mysteries, adolescent fantasy and sci-fi.

She also loves music, plays the trumpet and for the past few years has been teaching herself how to play the ukulele, an interest she picked up while interning for a year in Hawaii.