Khiela Holmes, PhD, Child Psychologist

Khiela Holmes, Ph.D.
Khiela Holmes, Ph.D.Licensed Psychologist

I am a licensed child (ages 6 to 25) psychologist specializing in the treatment of children, teens, young adults, and families. I also provide comprehensive psychological assessments to better understand children’s intellectual, academic, emotional, social, and behavioral functioning, clarify what the mental health diagnosis is, and provide individualized recommendations. When providing therapy or counseling services, I strive to work together with children, youth, young adults, and families to facilitate symptom reduction, improve quality of life, and nurture overall emotional, social, and behavioral wellness. I work with children, youth, and young adults who struggle with problem behaviors, aggression, anger, regulatory difficulties (impulse control, emotional and behavioral control, hyperactivity, and attention problems), depression, anxiety, trauma and stressor-related symptoms, and family stressors. I primarily use Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy approaches in treatment.

  • AETNA

  • Ambetter

  • Baptist BCBS Plans

  • Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans

  • Cigna

  • First Choice

  • GEHA

  • Health Advantage

  • Municapal 

  • New Directions

  • Qualchoice

  • True Blue

  • United Healthcare

  • UMR

  • Individual, Family, & Group Counseling

  • Psychological Evaluation

  • Evidence-Based Practices

  • Parenting Support

  • Infant & Toddler Mental Health

  • Consultation & Research

Chat Below, Call, or Message Us for an Appointment

Appointment

Resume

Education & Training

  • 2009 Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Psychological Association (APA)- accredited Professional Psychology and Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Program, University of Michigan Medical School – Department of Psychiatry, Ann Arbor, Michigan

  • 2007 APA-accredited Pre-doctoral Internship, Hawthorn Center, Affiliated with Wayne State University School of Medicine – Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Northville, Michigan, (including a 3- month minor rotation in the HIV and Myelomeningocele Clinics at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, Michigan)

  • 2007 Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama Dissertation: The Effects of Religiosity and Ethnic Identity on African American Preadolescent Aggression, Chair: John E. Lochman, Ph.D

  • 2003 M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama Thesis: Ethnic Identity in African American and European American Preadolescents: Perceived Self-Competence, Social Goals, Aggression, Depression, and Leadership

  • 2001 B.A., Psychology and Mathematics (double-major), Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas

Memberships

  • American Psychological Association

  • American Psychological Association, Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Division 53,

  • American Psychological Association, Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Division 36,

  • American Psychological Association, Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)

  • The Black Caucus of SRCD

  • Arkansas Association of Black Psychology Professionals Arkansas Psychological Association

Speaking and Presenting

  • Moderator, Arkansas Psychological Association Annual Fall Conference, Panel: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Future of Mental Health, Conway, Arkansas, October 2016Panelist, 2015 Suicide Prevention Conference: Magnifying the Facts, Dispelling the Myths, Finding Solutions, Suicide in Vulnerable Populations: Youth, Little Rock, Arkansas, September 2015

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, Cultural Competency in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, May 2015

  • Panelist, 2015 Suicide Prevention Conference: Magnifying the Facts, Dispelling the Myths, Finding Solutions, Suicide in Vulnerable Populations: Youth, Little Rock, Arkansas, September 2015

  • Co-presented, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, 9-session Behavior Therapy and Consultation Series, 2015-2016

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, International

  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health, May 2015

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS General Psychiatry Residency, Mental Retardation/Intellectual Disability and Learning Disorders, September 2014, 2015, 2016

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS General Psychiatry Residency, Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents, August 2014, August 2015, August 2016

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, Temperament, July 2014, July 2015

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, 6-session Psychotherapy Seminar, 2013–2014, 2014–2015, 2015-2016 academic years Co-presenter,

  • Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, 8-session Psychology Assessment Seminar, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016 academic years

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, Moral Development, July 2013 and July 2014

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Crash Course, Autism Spectrum Disorders, July 2013, July 2014, July 2015

  • Presenter, Trauma-Informed Care: The Impact of Trauma on Brain Development and What to do about It hosted by Think:Kids at Massachusetts General Hospital, Psychiatrically Hospitalized Children with Complex Trauma: Addressing Challenging Behaviors with Collaborative Problem Solving, Boston, Massachusetts, March 2014

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, Empirically Supported Treatments for Depression, April 2013

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Crash Course, Psychology in Child Psychiatry, July 2012

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Journal Club, Evidence-based Psychosocial Treatments for Ethnic Minority Youth, April 2012

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Journal Club, Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents, May 2010 Institutional Presentations

  • Presenter, Presented for the Psych TLC AHEC Roundtable Series, Conceptual Models for Understanding Aggression and Interventions, June 2015

  • Co-presenter with child and adolescent psychiatry fellow, Presented for the Psychiatric Telehealth, Liaison, and Consults (TLC) and Child Psychiatry Lecture Series, 2-session series, Cultural Competency in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, October and November 2012

  • Presenter, Presented for the Psych TLC and Child Psychiatry Lecture Series, Disruptive Behavior and Aggression: Conceptual Framework and Treatment, September 2012

  • Presenter, Presented for the UAMS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry CEU series, Disruptive Behavior and Aggression: Conceptual Framework and Treatment, August 2010

  • Presenter, Presented at the 32nd Annual Family Practice Intensive Review Course, Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder, June 2010

  • Co-presenter with the Medical Director, Presented to the UAMS PRI Child Diagnostic Unit nursing staff, The Collaborative Problem Solving Approach, 5-session series, Summer 2010

  • Co-presenter, 1st Annual Conference for Mental Health Professionals hosted by UAMS Psychiatric Telehealth, Liaison, and Consultation (Psych TLC), The Collaborative Problem Solving Approach, Treating Explosive Kids, Little Rock, Arkansas, March 2010

  • Co-chair, Women’s Empowerment Conference, Exploring Our Identity, Tuscaloosa, AL, April 2006

  • Panelist, 17th Annual National Black Graduate Student Association Conference: “Mission Possible: Taking Back the Black Community,” Each One Teach One: The Importance of Mentoring to Minority Students, Charlotte, North Carolina, 2005

Publications

  • Lochman, J. E., Palardy, N. R., McElroy, H. K., Phillips, N., & Holmes, K. J. (2004). Anger management interventions. Journal of Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention, 1, 48-57.

  • Holmes, K. J., & Lochman, J. E. (2009). Ethnic identity in African American and European American preadolescents: Relation to self-worth, social goals, and aggression. Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 476-496. doi: 10.1177/0272431608322955

  • Holmes, K. J. & Lochman, J. E. (2012). The role of religiosity in African American preadolescent aggression. Journal of Black Psychology, 38, 497-508. doi: 10.1177/0095798412443161

  • Huynh, N. T., Gathright, M. M., & Holmes, K. J. (2013). Worsening psychosis after fever of unknown origin in a pubescent male with a co-morbid diagnosis of Autism. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology,23, 224-227. doi: 10.1089/cap.2013.2333

  • Holmes, K. J., *Stokes, L., & Gathright, M. M. (2014). The use of Collaborative Problem Solving to address challenging behavior among hospitalized children with complex trauma: A case series. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 31, 41-62. doi: 10.1080/0886571X.2014.878581

  • Holmes, K. J., Gathright, M. M., & *Morris, E. M. (2014). Psychotic symptoms and catatonia in a preadolescent boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 24(5), 288-292. doi:10.1089/cap.2014.2453

  • Gathright, M. M., Holmes, K. J., *Morris, E. M., & Gatlin, D. C. (2015). An innovative, inter- disciplinary model of care for inpatient child psychiatry: An overview. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 1-12. DOI 10.1007/s11414-015-9484-5

  • Conners-Burrow, N McKelvey, L.M., Pemberton, J., Mesman, G., Holmes, K. & Bradley, R.H. (2015) Buffering the Negative Effects of Maternal Alcohol Problems on Child Behavior. Journal of Family Psychology, 29(4), 576-584. doi 10.1037/fam0000121.

  • Conners-Burrow, N., McKelvey, L.M., Perry, D., Whiteside-Mansell, L., Kraleti, S., Mesman, G., Holmes, K.J., & Kyzer, A. (2015, in press). Low-Level Symptoms of Depression in Mothers of Young Children are Associated with Behavior Problems in Middle Childhood. Maternal and Child Health. DOI 10.1007/s10995-015-1849-0

  • Conners-Burrow, N.A., McKelvey, L.M., Mesman, G.R., Pemberton, J., & Holmes, K.J. (under review). Differential effects of maternal depression and alcohol use on child internalizing and externalizing problems. Journal of Child and Family Studies.

  • Lochman, J. E., Holmes, K. J., & Wojnaroski, M. (2008). Children and cognition: Development of social schema. In J. K. Asamen, M. L. Ellis, & G. L. Berry (Eds.), Handbook of Child Development, Multiculturalism, and Media (pp. 33 -46). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412982771

  • Lochman, J. E., Barry, T. D., Powell, N., Boxmeyer, C. M., & Holmes, K. J. (2008). Externalizing conditions. In M. L. Wolraich, D. D. Drotar, P. H. Dworkin, & E. C. Perrin (Eds.), Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics: Evidence and Practice (pp. 603 – 626). Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier, Inc. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-04025-9.50020-9

  • Holmes, K. J. (Spring 2008). The roles of religiosity and spirituality in child maltreatment.

  • Section on Child Maltreatment Newsletter, Division 37, American Psychological Association, 13, 6-7.

Blog Articles

About Us

Arkansas Families First is a multidisciplinary behavioral health care group that offers a variety of health services for children, teens and families in Central Arkansas. Our group of independently practicing providers strive to provide the best, most comprehensive care that modern psychology, psychiatry, counseling, and other disciplines have to offer.

Mission

Arkansas Families First is devoted to unlocking the full potential of children and families. We utilize the latest research and the most skilled providers in the service of improving people’s lives. We strive to empower parents and to integrate multiple disciplines in the building of strong families and healthy children.

Our Promise

We take a strengths-based approach utilizing the latest evidence-based treatments and include parents in all aspects of treatment and assessment. We’ll find the service and the provider that best fits your family. With our growing list of clinicians, if you are not satisfied with your provider or services will help you make the necessary changes.