Pamela Hechtbauer,

• APCC

Pamela grew up in the Tijuana-San Diego cross border region. As someone who grew up between two cities and identifies as Mexican-American, she has insight as to the challenges that bicultural children and families face, including the stress that is associated with living in two different cultural backgrounds and the difficulty youth face in navigating their identity. Through her work with children as an instructional assistant in schools, her passion for mental health grew and pursued a career in the mental health field. Pamela received her Bachelor’s in Human Development from UC San Diego, and later completed her Master’s in Child Development with an Emphasis in Early Childhood Mental Health at San Diego State University.

Pamela has experience providing educationally related mental health services to children with an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) and 504 plans, outpatient services for middle school and high school students, forensic mental health for male adults in probation or parole, and providing group and individual therapy at an Intensive Outpatient Program for adolescents and young adults. She seeks to provide a safe and non-judgmental space to support youth and walk along-side them as they embark in this journey called life. Also, Pamela is passionate about empowering youth and helping them find and use their voice. Her approach to therapy is strength-based and tailored to the youth’s needs. Mindfulness, DBT, CBT, play therapy and art therapy are some theoretical approaches and interventions she brings into the therapeutic space to strengthen youth’s ability to cope with emotions and navigate the challenges that life brings.

Outside of work, you can catch Pamela sitting at a coffee shop with a book on hand, attempting to learn German, at the dog beach with her bernedoodle called Nala, doing macramé, and spending quality time with her family and friends.