About Us

Dr. Rick Buitrago, Clinical Director and Intern/Post-Doc Supervisor

Dr. Rick Buitrago is a Bilingual Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the South Florida area with 15 years of extensive and solid experience in operations administration/management/service delivery of behavioral health care services. His 15 years of experience include member of Senior Management, management of overall program operations and clinical services/programs; development and administration of long term residential and community based treatment settings; development and implementation of policies and procedures; risk management; contract negotiations; continuous quality improvement;  budgeting and program supervision.

Dr.Buitrago earned a Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from Albizu University, Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Miami Institute of Psychology, and Bachelor’s in Psychology from Florida International University. His wealth of professional experience includes his previous position at HomeSafe in West Palm Beach, FL serving the foster care population as the Director of Residential Services for 8 years. Dr. Buitrago began his career in New York at MercyFirst, where during his 7 year tenure served the adolescent forensic population as Clinical Coordinator, Program Coordinator and, ultimately, Program Director.

Click Here to download Dr. Rick’s complete CV

Dr. Edward Kornuszko, Chief Psychologist and Intern/Post-Doc Supervisor

Dr. Eddie is a native of the Finger Lakes of western New York. He recently relocated to central Florida after ten years in Boston working with youth presenting with complex trauma including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and with their families. During his tenure in New England, he studied under Dr. Bessel van der Kolk and Dr. Janina Fisher of the Boston Trauma Center. Dr. Eddie also focused on evaluating, developing and directing a wide range of programs from juvenile justice to multi-unit campus settings to community based acute treatment facilities contracted with the Massachusetts’ Department of Children and Families. He brings a wealth of experience doing individual and group work, along with psychological assessment, and program and staff development.

A graduate of the California School of Professional Psychology in San Francisco, Dr. Eddie initiated his research on juvenile delinquency, personality and spirituality studying youth in the California Youth Authority. During that same period, he also began working with geriatric populations, which he has continued here in Florida.

Dr. Eddie has a strong commitment to child abuse prevention and he sat on the Board of the Harvard University Catholic Student Center and the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School’s Child Abuse Prevention Committee where he offered trainings and gave seminars on abuse prevention and detection to both professional and lay audiences. His passion for teaching and the formation of graduate students in the field of Psychology is affirmed by his longstanding support of such opportunities, and is encapsulated in the description afforded him by the Award’s Committee of the North American Family Institute: “Dr. Kornuszko is a dynamic teacher and compassionate listener. He leads by example and effortlessly draws people together.”

Click Here to download Dr. Eddie’s CV

Dr. Elizabeth Hooper, Training Director and Intern/Post-Doc Supervisor

Dr. Betsi is a licensed psychologist in the state of Florida currently working at the Mental Health Center of Florida as the Senior Staff Psychologist and Training Director for the Visiting Mental Health Internship Program. An Ohio native, Dr. Betsi relocated to the warmth of South Florida in 2002 and earned her Doctor of Psychology degree from Nova Southeastern University in August 2007 after completing her internship through the South Florida Consortium Internship Program where she worked providing counseling and assessment services at the North Broward Bureau which houses the mental health units of the Broward County Jail. She went on to earn a post-doctoral Master of Science Degree in Psychopharmacology. She also has a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling from Chatham University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from Kent State University. She has worked in many areas which combine psychology and the law including as a Psychological Fellow in a private practice working on complex civil litigation cases involving psychological and neuropsychological assessments, a mitigation specialist for the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office Capital Litigation Unit, and a forensic psychologist in a secure forensic treatment center conducting competency evaluations and risk assessments for the courts. Dr. Betsi also has experience providing supportive psychology services in Assisted Living Facilities, Skilled Nursing Facilities, and Independent Living Centers as well as providing community based case management services to individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. Her interests include psychological testing, forensic assessment, working with individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, and fostering personal and professional development in future mental health professionals. She has a dedication to helping trainees grow and blossom into competent, ethical, and independent contributors to the field of psychology.

Click Here to download Dr. Hooper’s CV

VMH Staff and Therapists

VMH Staff and Therapists come from a variety of backgrounds. We are the quintessential South Floridian multicultural family and we aim to treat your unique family as our own. At our home office you will find our wonderful team of support staff:

Some of Our Talented Therapists include: