Embracing Our Differences Welcomes Dr. Christina M. de Guia to Board of Directors

Dennis McGillicuddy, co-founder and board chair of Embracing Our Differences, announced recently that the organization has welcomed Christina M. de Guia, M.D., to the organization's board of directors.

"Dr. de Guia has participated as a panelist in our bullying prevention teacher workshops," says McGillicuddy. "Her expertise in this field is remarkable-and it's animated by a heartfelt passion for the welfare of children. She fits in perfectly with our mission and our values. We're delighted to welcome her to our board."

Dr. de Guia is board-certified in both child/adolescent and adult psychiatry. She grew up in Sarasota County and attended Cardinal Mooney High School. Dr. de Guia runs a private practice, serves as a staff member at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, and trains third-year medical students as a clinical professor at Florida State University. She graduated from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and completed four years of general psychiatry residency at the University of Virginia. After two more years of child and adolescent psychiatry training at the NYPH Columbia-Cornell program, Dr. de Guia served as a hospital staff psychiatrist in Maui, Hawaii. She returned to Sarasota in 2013.

"I am excited to start this new venture and hope that my expertise in the field of mental health, combined with my passion for the arts will continue to facilitate the mission of EOD in our community," says Dr. de Guia.

What drew her to Embracing Our Differences?

"As a second-generation American, born to parents who immigrated from the Philippines, I understand how it feels to be a bit out of place," she says. "What it's like to not look like others around you. I worked to fit in by assimilating, yet I was still stereotyped and, at times, marginalized. I majored in art in college and was able to use sculpture as a way to work through that journey and find a more complete version of myself on the other side. I hope to use my experiences to help others find a way to themselves, through art, education and improved communication. This is why I appreciate the existence of EOD and what it brings to this community."

Embracing Our Differences' board of directors includes Dennis McGillicuddy, chair; Graci McGillicuddy, vice-chair; Richard Bergman, secretary/treasurer; and Linda Poteat-Brown, John Weber, Sarah Wertheimer and the Honorable Judge Charles E. Williams.

For more information about Embracing Our Differences, please call 941-404-5710 or visit www.embracingourdifferences.org.

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