Susan Balk Kradel MD
After growing up in central Florida, Dr. Balk attended college at Duke University and medical school at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. After psychiatric residency in West Virginia, she served as a psychiatrist in the United States Navy. She later completed additional training at University of South Alabama and the University of Florida to specialize in psychiatric treatment of children. Doctor Balk began practicing in Panama City in 1997.
Doctor Balk has been actively engaged in the Panama City community in many ways since 1996. She has held leadership roles in the local medical community, and on school, religious, and nonprofit organizational boards. In her free time, she enjoys her family and pets, travelling, yoga, dance, and outdoor physical and water activities. Her indoor interests include reading, crossword puzzles, and playing the piano. She is a certified yoga instructor.
Dr. Balk works closely with psychologists and therapists locally. Three mental health counselors work in the office, maintaining their own independent private practices. This arrangement allows frequent communication and collaboration (with the consent of the patient or client), and eases referrals.
Our Clinicians
Robbie Hysong LMHC
Robbie was born and raised in Panama City. She graduated from Florida State University in 1992 and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC.) Robbie joined this office in 2005. She provides client-centered therapy with an emphasis on the connection between the body, mind, and soul.
Robbie particularly specializes in treating addictions/substance abuse and eating disorders. Other areas of specialty include grief therapy, relationship issues, stress management, career planning, and sexual orientation/gender identity counselling.
In her free time, Robbie enjoys travelling, fitness training, and spending time with her four-legged fur-babies. Robbie is a certified personal trainer, and specializes in individualized fitness training for women. Some of this personal training occurs in the office. (Seemindandbodywithrobbie.com)
Robbie is on the Governing Board of Emerald Coast Behavioral Hospital (ECBH). She also provides group fitness training to the Resiliency Unit at ECBH, treating military service-members who are active duty, retired, and in the National Guard.
Our Staff
Lora Addison
Lora is the friendly face our patients see when they walk in the front door. She grew up in Nashville and came to the panhandle in 1999. Lora joined our office in 2009; from her first day we knew she is a keeper. Lora is the master of our schedules. She answers phones, triages calls, and has a knack for understanding how to manage difficult situations. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren, and going to the beach. Lora’s joy at meeting people and working with children fuels her attention to detail at work. She feels that she’s learned much about people and life through her job.
Mari Gildersleeve
Mari manages the business nuts and bolts at the office. She grew up in Arkansas, earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Southern Arkansas University in 1984, and came to Panama City in 1991. Like the rest of us, she enjoys quiet time with her kids and pets, and reading. She’s a lifetime member/volunteer of the Girl Scouts, and a novice to knitting and crocheting. With us since 2001, we can always count on Mari for an honest and straightforward response to any problem.
Lucy Lee
Lucy is our extraordinary transcriptionist. She met Dr. Balk in 1996, and began doing her transcriptions at the office in 2002. We can always count on Lucy to get the spelling and details right, and to expedite a report when important! Lucy has been in Panama City since 1976. She enjoys her animals, reading and gardening in her free time.
Susan Jarrett
A mother of 3 with 10 grandchildren, she moved here from North Georgia in 2013 where she retired from a 21 year career in Public Safety and with the Water Authority, and Animal Control. She is NACA certified, and has always had a love for the fur babies.
Her hobbies include: swimming, walking, camping, kayaking, and any DIY projects. She resides in the community of Southport with her husband Craig and “Paisley their sassy Boston Terrier”.
Motto: “Life is short, share your words, should haves are hard to live with”
Students and Interns:
We work closely with Physician Assistant training programs at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA, and at Bethel University in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition, medical students from a variety of universities sometimes work with us to develop their knowledge of psychiatry.