Valerie
Wood
Therapy for individuals and couples navigating the passages that matter most; identity, grief, intimacy, and the relationships that hold it all.
I became a therapist because I believe each of us deserve to feel supported as we navigate what's happening in our lives.
Over more than three decades of clinical practice, I've developed deep expertise in the experiences that tend to arrive together and rarely travel alone: the hormonal and psychological upheaval of perimenopause and menopause, the grief that quietly reshapes a life, the intimate and relational shifts that come with it, and the old wounds that sometimes resurface when the nervous system is already under strain.
My work is integrative, unhurried, and genuinely collaborative. Whatever brought you here, you don't have to leave any part of it at the door.
Many of the women I work with have spent years, sometimes decades, attending to everyone else's needs before their own. By the time they find their way to therapy, they've often minimized their own experience so thoroughly that naming it out loud feels almost self-indulgent.
It isn't. The fatigue, the disconnection, the anxiety that arrived without warning, the relationship that used to feel solid and now feels strained, these experiences are real and they are worth attending to.
I bring both clinical insights and genuine connection to my work with clients. Together we'll explore what has contributed to your current struggles and discover solutions and insights to help you feel more grounded and more like yourself again.
What we can work through together
These areas aren't separate and unrelated to one another, they're deeply interconnected. Therapy offers a chance to explore the many parts and pieces of your experiences so you can find healing and wholeness upon your journey.
Hormonal transitions are profound neurological and psychological events. I help women understand and navigate the anxiety, mood shifts, brain fog, sleep disruption, and identity questions that accompany this stage of life. I am happy to collaborate with your other care providers when helpful.
Changes in desire, arousal, body image, and intimacy are among the most common and least discussed experiences women face at midlife and beyond. I offer an open and non-judgmental space to explore your experiences around sex and intimacy, to address physical or relational barriers to intimacy, and to reconnect with your own desires on your own terms. I welcome clients exploring gender and identity as well as queer and ethically non-monogamous relationship structures.
Grief is not only about death. It can be the loss of a relationship, the ever transitioning roles we embody across a lifetime, a future you are just imagining, or a version of yourself you've lost touch with or long to discover. I am comfortable sitting with ambiguous and unnamed grief, the kind that doesn't have a ceremony or a clear endpoint, and together we can reflect and understand what might come next upon your path.
Relationships are living systems, and they are affected by everything their partners carry. I work with couples navigating the strain of midlife transitions, communication breakdown, intimacy challenges, grief, and the slow distance that can develop when two people stop finding their way back to each other.
Trauma held in the body doesn't always announce itself clearly. It can look like anxiety, numbness, relational patterns that don't make sense, or pain that resurfaces during periods of hormonal or life transition. I use trauma-informed, somatic, and evidence-based approaches, including EMDR, to support healing at a pace that feels safe.
Who am I now? What do I want , maybe for the first time? These are not small questions, and midlife is often when they become impossible to ignore. I help women explore and deepen their sense of self with the understanding that growth is possible at any point upon our journey.
Your very human struggles, your relationship strain, your grief, your hormonal transition, these are often experienced as interrelated issues. Together we will explore the impact and understanding of where and how these aspects of life intersect and how healing and growth can happen.
I bring somatic awareness and an understanding of the physiological dimensions of your experience into our work. The body holds what the mind sometimes can't say, and therapy works best when close attention is given to both.
I don't believe in one-size-fits-all treatment. I draw on aspects of psychodynamic, insight-oriented, somatic approaches, EMDR, trauma-informed and relational therapy in my work with clients.
Education & Credentials
Valerie Wood, LMSW, CST-S
You've been taking care of everyone else for a long time.
Perhaps its time to create space to focus on your own journey. Let's find out if we're a good fit.
You can reach me at [email protected] to schedule a Free Consultation 20 minute introductory calls available via phone or video