Virginia completed her Master of Social Work at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. During her studies, Virginia worked with multiple community disaster recovery programs and at Covenant House New Orleans, a shelter dedicated to serving homeless and runaway youth. Virginia has been fascinated with all things horse since early childhood - though she still regrets she has never had her own horse, she treasures memories of going on trail rides in all her favorite places, visiting the barn during horse shows at her hometown Louisiana State University, and meeting some modern legend horses. Now, she relishes the opportunity to work with the HGH team of two-legged and four-legged colleagues.
Virginia has over 12 years experience as a clinical social worker. Her experiences since completing her masters degree have ranged from partial hospitalization/intensive outpatient programs in the heart of Cajun country (where she met with a Cajun "traiteur" folk healer who worked with horses), to counseling at a National Guard sponsored residential program for at-risk youth, to three years work in various contractor roles at JBLM. During her associate level work, Virginia was introduced to mindfulness-based and body-focused approaches by her supervisor, who is one of the faculty of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine and recently retired as Executive Director of her local Children's Advocacy Center. An avid lifelong learner, Virginia recently completed Level 2 training in Hakomi (a body-centered psychotherapy practice recognized by the International and US Association for Body Psychotherapy), and has attended ARCH Arenas For Change Equine Assisted Psychotherapy training, both of which inform her way of working - along with a wry sense of humor. Virginia also currently maintains a private practice in Olympia.
