Therapists in Toano, VA

Therapy is a safe place to assist you in understanding yourself better, unraveling past hurts, or working to achieve a personal goal. I am an attachment-based, relationally-focused, trauma-aware clinician and I aim to connect with you in a genuine, compassionate, and non-judgmental way. I have experience working with individuals, couples, and families in a variety of therapeutic settings.

I specialize in anxiety, ADHD and helping parents navigate their child's developmental diagnosis. I love learning about neurobiology and the effects that stress has on the brain. A client can expect to encounter a warm, compassionate, and encouraging soul who has a dry sense of humor and tends to address problems in a straightforward manner. I practice CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy), TF-CBT (trauma-focused CBT), ABA (applied behavioral analysis), solution-focused therapy, and structural and strategic family therapy.

I am currently seeing clients who are experiencing estrangement from adult children individually and in group. In addition, I see individuals with a variety of issues such as life confusion, anxiety, depression, relationship loss and grief and trauma. Finally, I see couples and those having family issues. I am a seasoned therapist with over 25 years experience. I keep up to date in research and current trends. I am trauma certified as well.

Welcome! My name is S. Charis Potoczek. I specialize in trauma informed CBT and EMDR, and am accepting new patients. Many researchers suggest that belonging is our most fundamental need. Due to difficult and traumatic life situations, we can develop a roadmap of responses to our relationships that leaves that belonging need unmet, leading to troubling symptoms and dysfunctional coping. Shame from those experiences can distort our reality and paralyze us from taking initiative to get our needs met. And maybe, we are so blinded by our shame that we do not even know what those needs are.

Life can become complicated, overwhelming, and difficult. Counseling services create an important relationship in your life that allows for the framework to alleviate a number of struggles: anxiety, depression, grief, eating disorders, family conflict, adolescent struggles, and self exploration. Counseling provides a safe place to take risks, be vulnerable, gain support and become empowered to make changes in one’s life.

As a solution-focused therapist, my goal is to help you uncover your true potential and lead a life that is worth celebrating. While we can't change difficult situations of the past, we can work together to better understand and resolve challenges in your life. By applying complementary therapy approaches and techniques, we will unearth long-standing behavior patterns or negative perceptions that may be holding you back from experiencing a more fulfilling life. You may be looking for extra support and guidance through a challenging situation or you might be ready to move in a new direction in your life.

My mission is to support families, couples, and individuals with developing healthy relationships with themselves and one another with God leading the way. I'll do so by providing practical insights, techniques, and resources, via counseling, education, and support.

I help address the root causes of behavioral disorders and mental health issues, whether stress in the home, work related stressors, physical, relational, etc. I use an array of psychotherapy modalities including child centered play therapy (sand, art, dance, music), cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, family counseling as well as industrial organizational psychology modalities for work related stressors. The goal is to decrease the behavioral disorders and / or mental health symptoms to restore optimal functioning in the home and work environment.

Therapy is one accessible avenue of healing and growth in our mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical lives. You don’t have to be going through a crisis or challenging time to benefit from all therapy has to offer. In a space that offers objectivity, authenticity, non-judgement, along with knowledge, therapy is an opportunity to examine oneself and cultivate new skills, leading to greater personal responsibility, and healthier relationships with self and others. Relationships are central to humanity; we flourish when we are living in authentic, deep, life-giving relationships and community with self and others.

I typically work with people who have experienced some type of traumatic event or events, either recently or from childhood. They are tired of being bullied by their own thoughts and emotions and not being able to experience a fulfilling life or enjoy intimate relationships. Being in Hampton Roads, I have worked with many military families who have their own unique stressors and traumas. I also love working with other mental health clinicians who may need their own support for managing mental health concerns, relational conflict, or coping with work-related burn out and compassion fatigue.

My ideal client is someone who may be dealing with complex trauma, PTSD, or couples looking to work towards improving their relationship through enhanced communication. Barriers they may be facing include difficulties in managing emotions, relationship problems, or adapting to life transitions, requiring a compassionate space to process their experiences and a supportive guide to help them develop coping strategies. Goals would include healing from past traumas, discovering and building on their inherent strengths, fostering resilience, and pursuing personal growth. Ultimately, to find fulfillment and joy in themselves.

There are many different challenges in our busy day-to-day lives. It is my goal to assist individuals who are struggling to find their way, cope with a recent loss, build their strengths, and focus on empowering people to facilitate change. By offering a safe & supportive environment for my clients, I provide a holistic approach to therapy that helps individuals become aware of the mind-body connection. I have thorough knowledge & experience counseling children and adolescents, where I am able to connect with them at their level in order to help nurture their growth and help navigate them as they achieve their emotional milestones.

Throughout our lives, we all experience periods of darkness and struggle. It's only natural that sometimes we want to give up -- whether it's on our relationships, our passions, or even ourselves. For those experiencing difficulty with their intimate relationships, communication with significant others, exploring gender or sexual identity, depression, or traumatic experiences, psychotherapy with me may be a route to better health and wellness.

Hi! My name is Dr. Melissa Woods. I am a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with over 13 years of experience in the mental health field. As a clinician, I enjoy the collaborative navigation of lived experiences in service of cultivating a better quality and more fulfilling life. In therapy, I utilize a holistic understanding of presenting issues and the unique needs of each individual to guide my therapeutic approach. I am deeply rooted in psychodynamic and interpersonal theory, and specialize in CBT, ACT, DBT, Relational Therapy, and Attachment-based Therapy.