BIO

Dr. Warbinton is a Lindsborg, Kansas native – a Swede through-and-through. During her childhood and adolescence, Dr. Warbinton was involved in athletics and was an active member of the Lindsborg Folk Dancers.

Committed to staying close to family, Dr. Warbinton graduated from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas with degrees in biology and psychology while also working as an intern chemist at a pharmaceutical plant. Passionate about both biology and psychology, Dr. Warbinton realized that she was most fascinated by exploring the human experience, and subsequently, she followed her passion for Psychology to Emporia State University (ESU) where she graduated with her Master of Science in Clinical psychology. During her time there, she was awarded with the Outstanding Clinical Psychology Graduate Student award as well as the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant award. She also worked as an intern at the community mental health center where she focused on individual therapy and psychological testing, as well as advocating for patients who were in the local state hospital.

While obtaining her master’s degree, Dr. Warbinton interned abroad at a healthcare advocacy law firm in London, England. During her time here, Dr. Warbinton worked closely alongside solicitors (attorneys) to advocate for patient rights while they were detained in various psychiatric hospitals across the greater-London area. It is here that two of Dr. Warbinton’s passions collided: patient advocacy and chronic mental illness.

Following graduation, Dr. Warbinton chose to get real-world experience by working at a community mental health center in southeast Kansas prior to pursuing her doctorate. It was here that Dr. Warbinton learned first-hand about barriers to mental health treatment and felt compelled to continue her passion for advocacy through higher education. Thus, Dr. Warbinton chose a program at the University of Oklahoma (OU) with a focus on advocacy and social justice. While at OU, Dr. Warbinton was chosen amongst her peers as a clinic supervisor at the OU Counseling Psychology Clinic. She also gained clinical experience at Griffin State Hospital in Norman, Oklahoma for 1.5 years as well as at the VA Hospital in Oklahoma City. To complete her training, Dr. Warbinton was fortunate enough to match for her clinical internship with Dr. Morris at Salina Regional Health Center, where she honed her skills with psychological testing, therapy, group therapy, and continued her love of inpatient psychology.