Valerie Houseknecht, M.D., FAPA (she/her/hers) is a Board-Certified General Adult Psychiatrist who has been working with individuals to improve their mental health and wellbeing for more than 20 years. She is a lifelong Ohioan who earned her M.D. from Wright State University School of Medicine in 2001. She completed residency training in general adult psychiatry at the University of Kentucky and returned to Dayton in 2005. She has cared for myriad patients in a variety of settings including community mental health, private practice, crisis services, university counseling centers and integrated healthcare settings, prior to joining the staff at Cox Health and Counseling Center at Kenyon in 2022.
Pragmatic by nature, she is conservative in diagnoses, a champion of psychotherapy and anything but a pill-pusher. Her title has always been "psychiatrist," but her roles have been clinician, teacher, advisor, researcher/author, administrator, consultant and collaborator. She is passionate about reducing the suffering caused by mental illness and strives to improve the wellbeing of all students by providing collaborative care to bridge physical and mental health. Her professional interests include the interface of medical illness and mental health, mindfulness, group and individual therapy, wellness and resilience, reducing mental health stigma, and interprofessional education in healthcare.