This research into school issues, both cognitive (thinking abilities and skills) and emotional, was the springboard for her to advance in her testing skills. She was a school psychologist for one school year in the Special Education Cooperative based in Taylor, Texas (1995-1996) and maintained her license as a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology until 2017.
Melanie L. Horn, Ph.D.
Psychologist
Licensed Specialist in School Psychology
About Dr. Horn
Melanie grew up in Billings, Montana. She returned to college in the 1970’s and graduated from, then, Eastern Montana College in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. Eastern later became Montana State University at Billings.
Dr. Horn worked as a Masters level psychologist and Psychological Associate in San Antonio in both research and evaluation, primarily with adults. The importance of childhood and family environment spurred her to begin studies at the doctoral level. Dr. Horn took advantage of all six areas of specialization offered in her program, in addition to the many other required courses. Each area of study consisted of a semester of “book learning” and a second semester in a practice setting. Three of the areas focused on the many aspects of evaluation in psychoeducational, neuropsychological, and emotional evaluations, such as, interviewing, collecting data, analyzing data and communicating data. The remaining three areas were focused more on psychotherapy skills. Her hopes of learning about families and helping families began to come to fruition with her year studying family therapy and continued with supervision in internship and postdoctoral supervision. Cognitive-behavioral therapy was a second important area that Dr. Horn will weave into her counseling as required. The third area, consultation, important with teachers to help the child indirectly, later became a foundation for Dr. Horn’s work with seniors. Individual therapy is often so important for an elder. But also of vital importance is consulting with families, physicians, and facility staff, among others, to form a team. She stresses working as a team in a supportive manner.After graduation from UT-A, Dr. Horn had the privilege of completing her post doctoral supervision in the private practice of Drs. Bill and Tina Dubin. Dr. Tina Dubin specializes in geriatric psychology and introduced this area of psychology to Dr. Horn.
Her doctoral dissertation (1994) became a foundation for her work today. She studied two groups of elementary-age children who were diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD/ADD). One group of the children with ADHD was diagnosed as having learning disabilities and the other was without learning disabilities. They were each administered a projective personality test to understand differences in emotional functioning, if any, compared to children with no diagnoses. “Second is to try to understand how the ‘psychology’ of the individual and family environment overlays the brain-based factors. Here is where emotional functioning and family functioning come into play. Dr. Horn lives in Lakeway with her husband, J. Marx Horn. She is the mother of two children in their forties, and she has two school-aged grandsons.
As may be evident from her background, Dr. Horn believes that a great part of understanding the functioning of a child or an adult has to do with how the brain works at a cellular level. Thus, she believes, seeing clients from a neuropsychological framework is really the first step in helping a family or individual understand from where problem (or desired) behaviors are coming.Dr. Horn completed her internship in Austin, half time at the Austin Child Guidance Center and half time in the Eanes school district in the high school and an elementary school. She received her Doctoral Degree in 1994. Dr. Horn offered psychoeducational and psychological testing for a number of years in private practice with children, adolescents and adults. She continues to interpret test batteries for families so that they may gain a greater understanding of their child’s or aging loved one’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
Upon being licensed as a psychologist in 1995 and accepted as a Medicare provider in 1996, Dr. Horn continued to pursue working with older folks and their families. She is especially active in working with seniors in residential facilities in the Lake Travis and Steiner Ranch areas. She began her office practice in Lakeway in 1998 and has remained at the same location to the present.
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Dr. Horn’s work with ADHD/ADD propelled her into a study of bipolar disorder in children and adults and the importance of education and of emotional support for both the individual and family coping with the condition. 
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Martha and Melanie
Two Psych Associates - San Antonio
Why Do I Have to be Tested?
She commuted to the University of Texas in 1988 from San Antonio but moved to Austin as she entered her second year of the School Psychology program in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas–Austin. This program allowed immersion into the child’s world of their development of cognition and emotion in their school and family life. 
Forever Young...
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Rough Overview of the Human Brain
"Three Brains in One"
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Dr. Horn states:
Dr. Horn moved to San Antonio, Texas to attend Trinity University in the summer of 1978. She began her Masters program at Trinity in a conjoint program with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She graduated with a Masters degree in clinical psychology in 1981, focusing on testing with standardized and projective instruments.
Credentials:
Ph.D. Educational Psychology--University of Texas-Austin
M.A. Clinical Psychology--Trinity University-San Antonio
B.A. Psychology--Montana State University-Billings
Please read further if you would like to learn more about Dr. Horn's
background and philosophy of practicing psychology
People calling for information often ask, “What is your orientation,” or “What school of thought or model do you use?” This question really stumps me, because I use whatever model is most appropriate for the particular client or situation. I may employ several different models within one session.I will say, however, that my overarching view of a client is in the context of family therapy. I may never meet another family member, but those absent ones are factored in as we explore the issues. Whether we must delve into the neurological functioning of a child, aging loved one, spouse, or oneself, or we must focus on treatment for depression or an anxiety disorder, or a myriad of other possibilities, the complete universe of the individual must be considered and integrated into our understanding to the degree possible. What Makes Us Human
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