STUART, FL., August 8, 2025 – The Adult and Pediatric Institute, a psychiatry practice specializing in child, adolescent, and adult mental healthcare, is expanding its services to include Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with the opening of a new clinic in Port St. Lucie, Florida. This marks the first privately owned organization, not part of a large healthcare system, to offer fully integrated mental and behavioral health services for children, adolescents, and adults all at one location, ultimately bettering healthcare access to mental health-impacted families and individuals.
Opening in January 2026, the new site will offer a full set of mental health and behavioral health services for individuals across the lifespan. The company, owned and operated by clinicians, will provide comprehensive care that combines psychiatry, psychotherapy, and evidence-based behavioral therapies for patients from early childhood through adulthood. Services will include CBT, DBT, EMDR, ABA therapy, parent and sibling groups, medication management, and comprehensive diagnostic evaluations for autism and other conditions. The new location will bring over 30 new jobs to the community within the year in clinical, administrative, and supportive roles. The Adult and Pediatric Institute is also committed to a ‘no waitlist’ policy for all patients, to ensure no patient will wait long to see a professional and receive life-changing treatment.
Founded by Nicole Clark, MSN, BA, RN-BC, and Mariel Paralitici-Morales, MD, the Adult and Pediatric Institute was created to meet a critical need in the mental health industry: accessible, high-quality mental health care for individuals across the lifespan. Families and individuals seeking care are often met with a fragmented system of long waitlists, separate providers for children and adults as well as different treatments, and inconsistent treatment plans. The Adult and Pediatric Institute is determined to bring together psychiatry, therapy, and behavioral services like ABA to one location, offering consistent care to patients, from childhood to adulthood. This patient model will allow patients to continue care with the same provider over time, guaranteeing uninterrupted treatment plans as they age. The company also places an important focus on an often overlooked dynamic: the parent and sibling’s mental health. With the ability to treat adolescents as well as adults, the whole family unit is able to receive care at one location.
“As a mom to two special needs daughters, I had a difficult time finding providers who could care for my girls. Often, we would find ourselves on long waitlists or no call backs. As a nursing leader, I was infuriated at the system that would allow this to happen to families, and I knew something had to change,” said Nicole Clark, CEO and Co-Founder. “My mission at the Adult and Pediatric Institute is to break down silos and create a culture of mental health care and respect, so that anyone in need has a place that they can go to get help. These are human beings and children; they deserve our time.”
“As a psychiatrist, I have witnessed firsthand the challenges families face when trying to access timely, coordinated mental health and behavioral care,” said Mariel Paralitici-Morales, MD, CMO and Co-Founder. “By bringing together psychiatry, psychotherapy, and behavioral therapies like ABA, we are not only addressing the needs of individuals across the lifespan, but also supporting the entire family unit.”
The Adult and Pediatric Institute’s new site location will open opportunities to the Florida community for collaboration amongst mental health professionals across a multitude of specialties in an environment that supports holistic as well as traditional medicine. Outside providers such as Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech and Language Pathologists will be welcome to see patients at the clinic and utilize the clinic’s state-of-the-art sensory playground. Patients will be able to participate in yoga and mindfulness classes offered at the clinic at no cost to them to help support their healing journey. The Adult and Pediatric Institute team is determined to break down silos in care delivery and consolidate multiple therapeutic modalities. Their passion-driven and evidence-based vision to create a new model of care delivery will further their mission in shifting the standard of mental and behavioral health treatment.
