What is Psychoanalysis?

Psychoanalysis is a method of treatment that offers a way of understanding ourselves, our relationships and how we conduct ourselves in the world.

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Is psychoanalysis right for me?

While psychoanalysis is not be for everyone, almost anyone suffering from psychological symptoms can benefit from some type of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy.

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Children and adolescents

Children and adolescents often behave in troubling ways. Sometimes their behavior is symptomatic of passing problems and temporary stresses. Sometimes the troubles stay.

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Explore the next chapter of your life

“My greatest satisfaction is to see people learning to understand themselves,” says Dr. Penelope J. Hooks. “When patients can look at a situation from a different perspective, they can understand in a deeper way what has not been working.”

Dr. Hooks helps her patients through life transitions, crisis situations, and exploration of their inner world. Appointments are available weekdays by calling 713-521-9087.

Specialties

Dr. Hooks is a board certified psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and child psychoanalyst in Houston. She enjoys working with patients who want to move through their issues and explore deeper feelings and ways of relating. She specializes in several areas including:

  • Anxiety and depression
  • Shopping addictions
  • Living with cancer
  • Aging and loss of personal power
  • Parenting
  • School worries in children
  • Toileting problems in children
  • Relationship issues
  • Adoption issues
  • Infertility counseling & routes to alternative parenting
  • Blocks in creativity
  • Performance anxiety
  • Interface with professional licensing boards
  • Sexual minority issues

Dr. Hooks also has expertise in working with specific types of individuals including:

  • Parents
  • Toddlers, children and adolescents
  • Dancers
  • Musicians
  • Writers
  • Business professionals
  • Physicians
  • Lawyers
  • Teachers
  • Graduate Students
  • Medical Students

Dr. Hooks, a Houston psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Psychoanalytic Association in Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychoanalysis. She is also a Training and Supervising Analyst, and a Child and Adolescent Supervising Analyst for The Center for Psychoanalytic Studies.

Appointments are available weekdays by calling 713-521-9087. Online telemedicine sessions via Skype are also available.

Testimonials

“Dr. Penny Hooks demonstrates her commitment to a deep understanding of the issues her patients face – she really walks her talk. Penny is personally committed to exploring the best, most innovative and effective treatments and programs for people facing significant issues in their lives. My particular interest is in women who compulsively overshop, and I’m delighted to say that this is an area Penny and I share a common and deep interest in.”

Jill Chivers
Creator of the world’s first online program for women who compulsively overshop, ‘My Year Without Clothes Shopping’
www.myyearwithoutclothesshopping.com
“Dr. Penelope Hooks is unsurpassed in child, adolescent and adult psychoanalytic treatment. She has a deep understanding of human development, and shows a remarkable capability of patience and persistence to assist her patients in working through impasses that stymie forward movement. She represents a model of the highest ethical practice, and in every instance her patient comes first.”

Arthur J. Farley, M.D.
President, Texas Academy of Psychiatric Physicians & Clinical Director of the New School in the Heights
Dr. Penelope Hooks, a Houston psychiatrist, works with patients who have shopping addictions. “It's a need that's not being met," she said. "And also, it's a defense against recognizing the need.”

Houston Chronicle
December 12, 2012
“Dr. Hooks has been my colleague at The Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, I have seen her teach and supervise trainees. Dr. Hooks is an excellent teacher and trainer of therapists, she has treated many patients successfully and efficiently and she is one of the few psychoanalysts in Houston who is certified to treat both adults and children.”

Ruth Rosines, L.C.S.W.
Faculty, The Center for Psychoanalytic Studies
“Dr. Hooks is one of the very few therapists in the United States who has specialized training in treating people with shopping addictions. Warm, empathic, and highly skilled, if you are an overshopper or have a loved one who is, I couldn't recommend Dr. Hooks more highly.”

April Lane Benson, Ph.D.
Editor: “I Shop, Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self” (Aronson, 2000)
“Working with Dr. Hooks is an exhilarating learning experience. Almost any time – no, every time, I am working on sorting things out in my mind and I share it with her, her response hits the target. I end up thinking – Yes! That’s it! Yeah! Thank you Penny Hooks!”

Ann Weiss, Director of Bo’s Place
Bo’s Place is a free, non-profit bereavement center offering grief support services for children, families and adults, and provides education and resources for those who assist people in grief.
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