Vanessa Valdes, MD

Zakiyyah Weatherspoon is a dual-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner with over a decade of experience. Since 2011, she has worked in family medicine, and since 2013, she has focused on mental health care across the lifespan. Her background includes treating children, teens and adults in hospitals, private practices, and community settings.

Since 2017, Weatherspoon specialized in helping individuals manage depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD, PTSD, ADHD, ODD, eating disorders, and substance use. She uses supportive therapy, solution-focused therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy to help clients feel heard, understood, and empowered.

Weatherspoon is passionate about breaking the stigma around mental health. She encourages her clients to speak up, get help, and take control of their mental wellness. Her approach is based on the Mental Health Recovery Model, which focuses on hope, healing, and building a life beyond diagnosis.

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Dr. Krista Alexander is a board-certified psychiatrist who loves equipping her fellow human beings to feel and function better. She studied medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and completed her residency at Duke University. She has worked in both private practice and integrated primary care/behavioral health care settings. She is a member of the American Psychiatric Association and the North Carolina Psychiatric Association. Krista offers medication management and supportive psychotherapy for mood disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma, ADHD, substance use disorders, and other mental health issues. She strives to embody "relational prescribing” and believes that med management is most effective in the context of a relationship of mutual trust, emotional safety, and shared decision-making between provider and patient. She has trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy and various forms of cognitive behavioral therapy, and tailors her approach to each patient's individual strengths and needs. Krista understands that the needs of the whole person must be addressed in order to facilitate growth and healing. She enjoys collaborating with fellow medical/mental health providers to address a patient's complex needs as an integrated team.

Dr. Lorangelly Rivera is board-certified in Adult psychiatry and has been practicing for over 5 years. Dr. Rivera focuses on medication management and brief psychotherapy utilizing techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and supportive therapy in 30-minute appointments. When appropriate, Dr. Rivera may recommend additional psychotherapy with a psychologist as part of the treatment plan. She is fluent in both Spanish and English and is passionate about working with the Latinx population. She completed her bachelor's degree in Cellular Molecular Biology from Metropolitan University, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and her postgraduate work at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Rivera received her medical degree from Ponce Health Sciences University School of Medicine, Ponce, Puerto Rico. She completed her residency training in psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center. After completing her training, she began working for Lifespan Physician Group where she became program director for Lifespan Latinx Mental Health Services and served as Staff Psychiatrist at Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital. She holds a faculty position in The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior as a Clinical Instructor. ‍

Dr. Anil Joseph (AJ) Kulangara completed additional training in Psychiatry at the University of Washington after working primarily in women’s health, primary care, and military medicine as a Battalion Surgeon in the United States Army.  Following his military service, he trained in Psychiatry and served the mental health needs of our Veteran population. He is excited to now bring his unique expertise and experiences to Talkiatry, as well as his additional training in Women’s Mental Health, Reproductive and Perinatal Psychiatry, PTSD, and trauma-informed ADHD evaluation and treatment.

Dr. AJ’s approach focuses on behavioral change, with medication management and supportive therapies serving as important (and often essential) adjuvants to optimizing mental health.

During your first meetings with Dr. AJ, you should expect a thorough evaluation of your clinical and social histories, as well as some introductory psychoeducation.  Following that screening, anticipate a discussion about his approach to your condition and an initial treatment plan.  Please feel free to bring up any questions or concerns at any time during this process, and note-taking is highly encouraged!

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Dr. Bryant graduated from Mount Sinai School of Medicine to complete her adult training and the Yale Child Study Center/Riverview Hospital for Children Program to complete her fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. A native Texan, she returned to Tyler, TX in 2020 to accept the position of Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. She also established an accredited child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship in Tyler. Prior to that, she served as the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division at the University of Mississippi Medical Center where she was also the Program Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship. She received her medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Working with survivors of trauma has always been an important part of Dr. Bryant's practice. She currently serves as the co-chair of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry's Committee on Child Maltreatment and Violence and she is a representative for the National Health Collaborative on Violence and Abuse. Dr. Bryant also served as the program director of the Eating Disorders and Trauma Recovery program at Menninger Clinic in Topeka. She is board certified in adult, child and adolescent psychiatry and she has over 32 years of experience as a practicing psychiatrist. Dr. Bryant specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, mood disorders, developmental disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and family relational problems for both children and adults. She believes that "knowledge is power" and that the more a person can understand about how the brain is affected by various mental health conditions, the more treatment makes sense.

Dr. Ann Landowne is Board Certified in Adult, Adolescent, and Child Psychiatry. She has over thirty-five years of experience helping people of all ages cope with a wide range of problems. Dr. Landowne received her medical and psychiatric training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and advanced training in psychotherapy at the Psychoanalytic Association of New York where she is on the faculty. She focuses on medication management and is holistic in her approach to people and the difficulties they face in life. She has expertise in the treatment of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems, and people struggling with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and eating disorders.�