Virginia Ballantyne, LCSW
Practical, affirming therapy for life and parenting challenges
Book with Virginia- Years in practice
- 12
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Licensed in
- California
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Relationship issues
- Focus
- Trauma and abuse
- Focus
- Career difficulties
About Virginia
Virginia Ballantyne is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 12 years of experience. She practices from a strengths-based, client-centered approach and aims to create a nonjudgmental space where people can talk about relationship strain, parenting concerns, grief, anxiety, and more. She focuses on practical, down-to-earth work.
Sessions often involve talking through immediate problems, building coping skills, and trying small experiments between meetings. Her background includes nonprofit and county work serving disadvantaged communities, which shapes a social-justice informed perspective.
Background and approach
Virginia combines client-centered care with tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy. She also uses motivational interviewing and narrative therapy to help people clarify goals and reframe difficult stories. That mix is adapted to each person rather than used the same way for everyone.
She offers a sex-positive environment and affirms LGBTQ+ identities, so topics around sexual identity and intimacy can be discussed without judgement. She has experience with trauma, intimate partner violence, addiction-related family issues, and other complex life challenges. People seeking help with parenting stresses, family conflict, career shifts, or coping with loss will find practical support and clear steps forward.
Virginia emphasizes collaboration: she listens, offers new perspectives, and helps people practice skills that fit their daily lives.
What Virginia works with
Everything Virginia lists, in the therapist's own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Virginia helps people with.
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
- Career difficulties
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- LGBT
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Adoption and foster care
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Gender dysphoria
- HIV / AIDS
- Jealousy
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Virginia lists
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
Approaches that guide online sessions
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening closely and reflecting what matters most to the person. The therapist follows the client's lead and helps them find their own solutions, which is useful for relationship concerns, parenting stress, and identity questions.Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, helps people notice patterns of thinking and behavior that keep problems going. Sessions include clear steps, simple experiments, and practical tools for anxiety, depression, and stress management.
Dialectical behavior therapy, DBT, offers skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and improving communication. It can be helpful when strong emotions, anger, or relationship conflict make daily life hard.
Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, try methods that fit their needs, and adjust as progress is made. That means the plan can change if something isn’t working.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls are useful for face-to-face conversation and skill practice. Phone sessions are flexible when schedules are tight or bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging let people check in between sessions or use shorter check-ins during the workday. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy family and work routines.
Questions people ask about Virginia
What concerns does she work with?
She helps people with relationship issues, trauma and abuse, career and work stress, depression, anxiety, addictions, parenting challenges, grief, and related family matters.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her style is client-centered and strengths-based. She blends practical skills from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy with narrative and motivational approaches.
How much experience does she have?
She has 12 years of clinical experience, including work in nonprofit and county services with disadvantaged populations.
What are her credentials and where is she located?
She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LCSW, licensed in California and practices from that state.
Can I work with her if I live outside the United States?
Sessions are offered in English and she is not currently accepting international clients.
What session formats does she offer?
She provides video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and communication preferences.
How are sessions paid for and what do they cost?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions are provided through a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and scheduling a session according to therapist availability.
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