Valorie earned her Master of Social Work degree at the University of Houston. During this time, she completed a psychotherapy internship and, subsequently, a Fellowship in Clinical Social Work through the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX). Valorie completed this psychotherapy training at the Baylor Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic where the primary theoretical and clinical orientation was psychodynamic psychotherapy. Additionally, she received a strong foundation in cognitive behavioral therapy and gained invaluable training experiences through her involvement in intensive, three-day outpatient psychiatric evaluations which specialized in complex psychological diagnostics and determining treatment recommendations for patients in need of more specialized mental health services.
Valorie has enjoyed a consultation relationship with Jonathan Shedler, PhD, an internationally known “author, consultant, and master clinician and teacher” within the world of psychoanalytic psychotherapy and personality diagnostics. This learning opportunity has strengthened Valorie’s lens for understanding patients’ difficulties through the ways they express themselves in their personality traits and patterns. For many patients, these traits and patterns become “creative” ways for coping with painful psychological and emotional difficulties; however, rather than prove effective, these strategies often lead to maladaptive symptoms, which serve as “pathways toward depression” and anxiety. Valorie’s appreciation for the influence of personality patterns and their linked treatment considerations have a critical influence on the way Valorie understands patients’ functioning in relationships and in their home-school-work lives.
Valorie is intensively trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy through Behavioral Tech, a training institute founded by Marsha Linehan. She has also completed the Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Fellowship at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies (CFPS-Houston). Ultimately, Valorie brings a wealth of theoretical, clinical, and experiential understanding from CBT to DBT to Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy along with an expertise in diagnostic formulation which helps guide the ways in which the Petoskey team understands and engages with each of our patients. Valorie is currently the President of Houston Group Psychotherapy Society (HGPS) and co-chairperson of the Training and Education Committee of HGPS. Additionally, she is an Instructor at Baylor College of Medicine.
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