Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Port Saint Lucie. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Benjamin John helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Port St Lucie, Florida.
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Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
EP# 273: From Childhood Insights to Clinical Advocacy: Dr. Krista Puente Trefz's Journey with Baytree Behavioral Health
What makes Dr. Krista Puente Trefz with Baytree Behavioral Health a good neighbor?
Ever wondered how the seeds of a childhood steeped in psychiatric care can blossom into a dedicated career in clinical psychology? Join us as we sit down with Dr. Krista Puente Trefz of Baytree Behavioral Health. Growing up with a psychiatric nurse mom and a neuropsychologist dad, Dr. Krista was destined to make mental health her life’s mission. From handing out Christmas cards while her dad made house calls to volunteering at soup kitchens in college, she was always drawn to helping others. Today, she specializes in maternal health, veterans, and those grappling with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and trauma.
Dr. Krista also shares an emotional chapter from her personal life: the heart-wrenching moment when her newborn son's life hung in the balance. This experience deepened her empathy and commitment to maternal mental health, making her an invaluable resource for mothers facing similar challenges. Outside her practice, Dr. Krista cherishes family time at the beach, boating adventures, and the simple joy of walking her dog. Tune in to hear her inspiring journey and why she believes therapy is a valuable tool for everyone, not just those with severe mental health issues.
To learn more about Dr. Krista Puente Trefz go to:
https://baytreebehavioralhealth.com/
Baytree Behavioral Health
321-543-7685
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Garfield Bowen.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a clinical psychologist? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, dr Krista Prentice-Trez, with Baytree Behavioral Health. Dr Krista, how are you doing today?
Speaker 3:I'm doing great. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:I am doing fine. Look, listen. We're excited to learn all about you and your practice. Tell us about your company.
Speaker 3:So I work with basically any age. I typically see children as young as seven and then go all the way to any age adult. I specialize in working with women, maternal health, veterans, and then I have, you know, really an interest in helping people with things like depression, anxiety, ptsd, any kind of trauma and any sort of stress, really in general.
Speaker 2:So tell us, how did you get into this business?
Speaker 3:Well, I'd like to say it pretty much runs in my blood. Well, I'd like to say it pretty much runs in my blood. So my mom was a psychiatric nurse before I was born and my dad is a clinical neuropsychologist who works with veterans and older. Just like all around me, and you know from an early age we would go to shelters, you know, at holidays and bring pies and go help, and my dad did house calls all my life. So I would kind of make a little Christmas card and hold that out and then I'd go sit in the car while he went and saw, you know, someone who's maybe, like medically unable to go into office for therapy. So I just really wanted to help and started doing some things in college, like soup kitchens and working at a homeless shelter in New York City, and just loved it.
Speaker 2:So I guess you had the vocabulary in your head all that time and the language said is interesting how people learn and find different fields that they're interested in by seeing different role models and so forth. What are some of the myths and misconceptions?
Speaker 3:I'd say some of the misconceptions is that you have to be, like you know, really sick to need therapy. That's not true. Anybody can benefit from therapy. You know you don't have to be. You know we do see people who hear voices, but you don't have to be. You know hearing voices to need help. You know if you have stress or you have relationship problems or maybe you don't sleep well or you feel like you're not coping well and you're using bad coping methods like overeating or maybe substances anything like that you can benefit from therapy.
Speaker 2:I was about to ask you about patients. Do they help? Oh yes, Do that help.
Speaker 3:Oh yes, oh yes.
Speaker 2:Because I think everybody could use you, because you know patience is kind of hard to come by.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, for sure. Patience is so hard to come by. Yeah, you're right. So when you're not busy with your practice. What does Dr Krista like to do for fun? I like to spend time with my family and friends and I like to go to the beach, or we like to go boating. Go to an island, I love to swim, walk my dog all those things.
Speaker 2:watch movies Okay, now that we got the fun stuff out of the way, let's change gears a little bit. Life often throws us curveballs. Let's talk about one hardship, one life challenge, something that you went through. You can look back to it and say you're better and stronger because of it. What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:So when my son was born, he had a medical issue that they weren't sure whether he was going to live or not, and that was probably one of the hardest moments as a mom and it really made me want to focus. Once we got through it, he lived miraculously, we were very fortunate and he's doing great now and, you know, really want to, helped me, want to focus on maternal health, especially in terms of mental health, because on maternal health, especially in terms of mental health, because you know it was a very stressful time and so I have a special, you know, place in my heart for moms going through challenges with their babies, you know, or even just anyone going through a health challenge, because that can just be very, very hard, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm sure a lot can appreciate that, because it's tough. We take childbirth for granted, but it's really a miracle. Nobody really understands how the process actually happens, so we just have to, we just have to grab on to stuff like that.
Speaker 3:That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2:You're right, yeah absolutely, so I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit, if that's okay.
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 2:I know there's a lot you'd like to share about your practice, but I want you to narrow it down to one thing, one thing that you want our listeners to remember about Baytree Behavioral Health.
Speaker 3:I'd say what I really feel is the most touching thing about my job is seeing people feel better, and probably one of the best things is when a client, you know, gets to the place where they feel like you know, they're just getting a lot of relief. And I had one not long ago where he he he was a veteran and felt like he was, you know really got so much support and he was able to really do things he had never done travel outside of the US and do things that were really before therapy not really possible because he had so much stuck inside and once he worked on healing from all those things that he'd seen overseas, he was able to lead his best life with his family and, you know, just seeing that was just so powerful and when, when he was emotional, it was like emotional for me just because I was so happy to see him feel better and be able to sleep well and be able to travel and feel safe enough to do so.
Speaker 2:My personal feelings is if it matters is that I think everyone like how we get an annual checkup. We should be able to speak with somebody once a year to just make sure. We need a little tune up right.
Speaker 3:I love that idea, you know. I think that's probably the best recommendation, because we all can benefit from just a neutral professional talking and hearing you know what's working in your life, what's not working, okay, how do you want to work at it and make some improvements? Yeah, love that.
Speaker 2:Okay, so a lot of the listeners have one word on their lips right now, and that's how? How can you get more information on Baytree Behavioral Health?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, you can give the office managers at my office a call and they are ready for your call. They work nine to four, monday through Friday, and you can also leave a voice message. Their number is 321-253-8887. And then also, I do free consultations for anybody interested in therapy. Or if you're going to do a surgery, for bariatric surgery, I also do evals for that as well.
Speaker 2:Okay, is there a website you also like to share?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we actually have a website which is Baytree Behavioral Health and if you put that in your Google, that'll come right up and that has all the information about myself. There are other about six other providers in our clinic. They're located in the Melbourne location and we also have one in West Palm.
Speaker 2:Well, Dr Krista, I really appreciate you being on the show. I wish you and your business the very best moving forward.
Speaker 3:Thank you, it was a real joy to be on the show. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Port St Lucie. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpportsaintluciecom. That's gnpportsaintlucycom, that's gnpportsaintlucycom, or call 772-362-3840.