If you're here, you're probably asking yourself:
"Is she right for me?"
It’s too bad we don’t have a crystal ball to find out.
But, in lieu of one, I can tell you about myself and let you decide.
Relational therapist
I’m always looking for new ways to connect with my clients. I’m a new mom, as well as pet mom to three cats and a border collie/golden retriever mix. I enjoy reading, painting, listening to a variety of music, and playing video games. If you think of yourself as a little bit nerdy, different, cerebral, or just a curious person in general, I might be a good fit for you!
Intentional
I believe that therapy should include intentional strategies and direct treatment that helps you understand what steps you need to take on your healing journey. This could include helping you to understand how you see your distress and its intricacies, building new skills or perspectives, and ongoing discussions to make these interventions work for you.
The Values Behind Kardia Counseling
Most of us know the word cardiac as matters related to the heart. In its Greek origins, however, καρδία (kardia) takes on a much richer meaning. More than the literal physical organ that sustains our life, it is also the metaphorical intersection where our thoughts are born, our feelings are felt, and our choices are made. It is home to our intelligence, our moral reservoirs, and what calls us to action (or inaction). It is the seat of secular faith and the equivalent of the innermost version of ourselves.
We shoulder crushing pressures, carry emotional weights, and endure pain. In doing that, we can lose our sense of self.
We live lives full of uncertainty, loss, and endings, and it can be hard to know what we want or what presence we wish to hold.
It is messy, and we have all faced times where we suffer feelings of worthlessness, emptiness, and panic. We may find ourselves so frightened of conflict that we agree to relationships that feel exhausting or shape us into a person we don’t want to be.
Our suffering becomes second-nature and self-protective the more we bargain against ourselves to endure it.
People often come to therapy with the belief that they can no longer tolerate this suffering and hope that therapy will make the pain go away. I know the want to escape from what feels overwhelming is an aching want, but the perhaps unfortunate truth is that we need to make peace with what we have suffered and heal from it rather than compartmentalize it or ignore it.
In therapy, I will walk with you to help you explore inherited fears, ecosystemic trauma, and other cognitive distortions or labels internalized. I will help you when your go-to coping methods have collapsed, and you feel you can no longer keep intrusive thoughts, ideas, and feelings away. I believe that together, we can help you reconnect to your center — your kardia — and rebuild what may feel lost or broken.
I built Kardia Counseling on the belief that therapy should meet you on a human level, with honesty and respect for the whole person.
My work is guided by values that prioritize autonomy, dignity, curiosity, and care; not pathologizing people for the ways they have learned to survive.
You First
I believe that remaining client-centered and strengths-based is the best way to help meet an individual where they are at and support them in their growth, and so I will work to get to know you and create an approach that caters to you and your needs.
Honesty & Trust
I believe in the importance of authenticity and transparency, and use these values to guide treatment. This approach may look a little more direct than other therapists’ approaches.
Your Story Matters
I do not believe people become who they are in a vacuum. Symptoms, patterns, and coping strategies make more sense when we understand the context around them: family, culture, relationships, trauma, neurodivergence, identity, environment, and lived experience. My work focuses on understanding the whole picture, not reducing you to a diagnosis or label.
What makes Kardia Counseling unique
Training, techniques, and credentials all matter, but so does the person sitting across from you. My clinical work is certainly shaped by professional expertise just as much as it is by lived experience.
I am...
A new mother
Neurodivergent
Queer
A grief- and trauma-survivor
Chronically ill
What that means for you
I know birth can be traumatic, parenting disorienting, and your experiences not always met with the compassion they deserve from medical professioanls
My approach may be more direct, curious, and collaborative than other therapists. I won't understand your neurodivergence as broken, but rather as exceptional. That we live in a world meant for brains that work one way, and this has a very real effect on how that lands in our nervous systems
You don't have to have everything figured out before we talk. Your relationships, gender, and sexuality are all parts of how you understand yourself and I'm honored that you would be willing to share this part of your self with me.
The ways we cope might not always make sense, but I know it's how you had to adapt to survive, and at one time, it made sense. My own experiences have helped me understand that these strategies can be protective, maladaptive, and sometimes costly for us once the trauma itself is over.
As someone who knows that Spoon Theory is very real and we're prone to pushing ourselves well past our limits, I understand how this disrupts our lives. This has informed my cancellation policy, and that I will always try to be flexible with you around rescheduling.
What do my clients say about me?
“I like Victoria a lot.”
“Victoria has been great and I’ve looked forward to every session. She has challenged me in the best way possible.”
“Very helpful and does good things that she doesn’t necessarily need to.”
“Visit was virtual and was for my son. He is very picky about his therapists and was very happy. Thank goodness!!”
“I was so nervous to go back to therapy, let alone find one that took my insurance. I was extremely pleased with Victoria’s availability and how quickly I was able to see her. She creates a non-judgmental space where she meets me where I am at. I look forward to our next session.”
“I had a very comfortable first session with Victoria. asked insightful questions I was comfortable answering and got a good start for an intake session. I look forward to continuing working with her.”
Modalities & Specialities
Family conflict
LGBTQIA2S+
Neurodivergent populations
Anxiety, depression, grief, trauma
Anger management
Child and adolescent issues
Coping skills
Existentialism
Career guidance
Couples counseling
Interpersonal relationships
School/work issues and stress
Self-esteem and confidence
Parent coaching
Gestalt therapy and parts work