(she/they)
New to Grow
Hi, I'm Dr. V.—a licensed, board-certified therapist with 19 years of experience helping adolescents, adults, and couples navigate intricate emotional landscapes. I specialize in treating complex trauma, relationship struggles, maladaptive coping, life transitions, and the sense of loneliness and isolation definitive of our post-pandemic, digital reality. I hold advanced credentials in trauma-informed assessment and intervention, integrative mental healthcare, and clinical mental health and nutrition consultation. In addition to clinical practice, I work as an Adjunct Professor and Campus Supervisor across various universities, with research lines centering on early psychosocial trauma, Psychological Intimate Partner Violence (P-IPV), and instrument design. In fact, my co-authored text "Covert Trauma Across the Lifespan: Viewing Psychosocial Trauma Through a Clinical Lens"—scheduled for release in November 2026 via Springer Publishing, is the first comprehensive clinical resource of its kind, including a focus on phenomena such as narcissistic abuse, coercive control, gaslighting, parentification, and parental alienation—bridging the gap between clinical practice and contemporary culture. My further contributions to the field include: serving as a volunteer for the Florida Department of Health Crisis Management Team, scripting and acting in educational clinical demonstration videos, and designing, developing, and delivering board-certified training programs for mental health professionals, including psychiatry residents—focusing on assessment, intervention, and client-centered collateral care. When off the clock, I kick it savagely low-key. In my opinion, the greatest luxury in life is a great night's sleep! Otherwise, you can find me fumbling around on the acoustic bass, shamelessly reciting '90s hip-hop lyrics while cruising in the slow lane, upping my Soul Train game, binge-watching niche documentaries, attending stand-up shows, daydreaming of summers spent snorkeling in vivid tropical reefs, or expanding my highly curated collections of boots, books, rocks, cats, and tats.
Think of our first session as an open invitation to comfortably unmask and unpack who truly are—exploring your authentic self alongside someone who is right there in your corner. Together, we will map out your communication style, examine your core values, deconstruct your life script, and process whatever's on your mind. We'll take a look at what you’ve already tried, keep what's worked and ditch what didn't, and pinpoint your exact needs and goals. My objective is to completely customize our path forward, ensuring that we honor your time and resources at a pace that works for you.
If I haven't done it, I've seen it. If I haven't seen it, I've heard it! You can drop the filter here. We'll bypass the trite tropes and clinical sterility to make room for genuine understanding and authentic connection. Meeting you right where you stand will allow us to open doors to new growth—exercising your true potential and expanding your horizons. I will support you with compassion and handle your experiences with care. Let's make light out of the darkness--and hopefully share a laugh or two along the way!
I specialize in treating adolescents, adults, and couples facing complex trauma, relationship struggles, maladaptive coping, life transitions, and the sense of loneliness and isolation definitive of our post-pandemic, digital reality. My space is flexible, compassionate, non-judgmental, and affirming—providing ample room for deep, honest conversation. My integrative approach is client-centered, trauma-informed, and multiculturally-competent, infusing evidence-based modalities, including DBT, ACT, CBT, Schema Therapy, and Existential Therapy, with expressive techniques and Functional Mental Health consultation. Together, we'll uncover your inherent strengths, process what's been weighing on you, and cultivate more authentic connections—with yourself, others, and the world. Explorations of sexual wellness, orientation, and identity are warmly welcomed through my work.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
As a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) specialist, I utilize its most effective branches—including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Schema Therapy—to help you break free from negative cycles. Together, we will reshape unhelpful thought patterns, build practical skills to handle intense emotions, and heal deeply rooted, lifelong behavioral habits. By integrating these specific forms of CBT, I will help you strengthen your mental focus, accept difficult feelings so they lose their power, and treat conditions, including: anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder, and traumatic stress.
Existential
Through Existential Therapy, I will help you explore the deeper anxieties, choices, and searches for meaning that shape your life. Together, we will face universal challenges like mortality, isolation, and freedom of choice so you can discover your unique purpose and live authentically. This reflective approach specifically helps you navigate major life transitions, identity crises, grief, and chronic feelings of emptiness.
Narrative
Through Narrative Therapy, I will help you separate your identity from the problems you face, viewing you as the author of your own life story. Together, we will examine limiting stories and rewrite them to highlight your strengths, values, and resilience. This empowering approach allows us to target and treat depression, anxiety, trauma, low self-esteem, relationship struggles, and deeply rooted feelings of shame.
Integrative
My integrative approach is client-centered, trauma-informed, and multiculturally-competent, infusing evidence-based modalities, including DBT, ACT, CBT, Schema Therapy, and Existential Therapy, with expressive techniques and Functional Mental Health consultation. Explorations of sexual wellness, orientation, and identity are warmly welcomed through my work.
Trauma Informed Care
Through multiculturally-competent, person-centered, trauma-informed care, I prioritize safety, empowerment, and trust to help you heal from overwhelming past experiences. I assume an eclectic, multimodal approach that honors each client's unique histories, values, and lifestyles. This compassionate method allows us to process chronic stress, complex trauma, and emotional triggers safely, at your own pace.