Dr. Tessa Breedlove, Psy.D.
*Currently providing virtual telehealth services
We enthusiastically welcomed Dr. Tessa Breedlove to Pediatric Psychological Associates in 2021 as a post-doctoral fellow. Before joining the practice, Dr. Breedlove completed a pediatric pre-doctoral internship at the University of Vermont Medical Center where she provided care within the inpatient, outpatient, specialty medical, and primary care clinics. She successfully assisted numerous children, teens and families in the community experiencing a wide range of physical, emotional, behavioral and developmental challenges. Dr. Breedlove completed a post-doctoral fellowship rotation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center assisting patients and their families managing solid organ transplantation. She has a special interest in working with patients and their families experiencing chronic illness and trauma. In addition, she enjoys working with children and teens with anxiety, depression, school & family stress as well as facilitating effective parenting techniques.
During her doctoral training, pre-doctoral internship, and postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Breedlove specialized in pediatric psychology where she consulted with various medical specialties including, Hematology/Oncology, Gastrointestinal, Rheumatology, Neurology, Pulmonology, Endocrinology, Renal Services, and Solid Organ Transplants. Common presenting issues included: pain conditions, pediatric cancers, autoimmune disorders, juvenile fibromyalgia, diabetes, asthma and other pulmonary disorders, POTS, migraine headaches, recurrent abdominal pain, nonepileptic psychogenic seizures (NEPS), motor vehicle accidents or other trauma, and palliative care. Additionally, she worked with adolescents and their families with chronic and debilitating medical conditions through the Children’s Health and Illness Recovery Program (CHIRP), a 12-session treatment approach, with emphasis on multidisciplinary team collaboration, stress management, utilization of coping strategies, improving interpersonal skills and communication, and increasing independent functioning.
Dr. Breedlove has also worked within the JCPS school system providing therapy and assisting with 504 plan interventions to help students gain the most out of their learning experience. She also provided consultation and guidance to teachers and other staff related to trauma and mental health informed teaching and classroom redirection strategies. She has a passion for providing safe and trauma informed care as well as assisting children and teens navigating their identities.
Dr. Breedlove earned a doctoral degree (2020) and master’s degree (2018) in Clinical Health Psychology from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. She was awarded the Most Outstanding Clinical Psychology Student through her master’s program in Clinical Psychology (2016) at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Prior to graduate school, Dr. Breedlove earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Nonprofit Leadership & Management from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.
