Dr. Renata Nero

Dr. Renata Nero is a retired Professor of Psychology and Sharon K. Burrows Endowed Professor at Houston Christian University. During her twenty-five years at HCU she served as Chair of the Psychology Department and Director of Graduate Programs in the School of Behavioral Sciences. She is now a licensed clinical psychologist and consultant in private practice.

Dr. Nero's clinical expertise includes working with adults experiencing depression, anxiety, and the enduring effects of trauma. Her therapeutic approach is integrative, drawing upon evidence-based practices, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), to address the unique needs of each client.

An important dimension of her clinical practice is the integration of Christian faith and psychological principles. For clients who desire to incorporate their spiritual beliefs into the therapeutic process, Dr. Nero provides a faith-integrated approach that recognizes the significance of spirituality in fostering emotional healing, personal growth, and psychological well-being.

Dr. Nero also brings extensive experience in family systems approaches, particularly in helping individuals and couples explore and address longstanding, unresolved family-of-origin issues. Her work emphasizes understanding how early family experiences, relational patterns, and intergenerational dynamics influence emotional functioning and interpersonal relationships.

She graduated magna cum laude from Fisk University, where she was selected for Phi Beta Kappa, and studied medieval literature and history at Oxford University on an undergraduate scholarship. She earned a Master of Arts in Afro-American Studies from UCLA and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and completed pre and postdoctoral training in clinical psychology at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Nero serves on the Board of Directors of the Harris Center Foundation, is a former president of the Southwest Region board of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, and chairs the Executive Board of the Ashley Jadine Foundation, a suicide awareness and prevention organization. Since 2014 she has coordinated the foundation's annual lecture series on critical issues in mental health.