Meet Victoria: A Warm Welcome to Castlebrook Counseling’s Newest ClinicianWe’re thrilled to welcome Victoria Coons-Melanson, LCSW (MA), LMSW (CT), a compassionate and trauma-informed therapist, to the Castlebrook Counseling team! Victoria brings a deeply relational and inclusive approach to therapy, with special interests in working with LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent clients, as well as individuals navigating trauma, mood disorders, intimacy and self-esteem issues.
I sat down with her for a quick Q&A to learn more about what inspires her work and how she connects with clients in meaningful and supportive ways. Nicole: What first inspired you to pursue a career in mental health counseling? Victoria: I saw a therapist when I was a kid and realized I wanted to be like her—to help others feel heard, seen, and supported. I’ve always believed that everyone deserves to have someone they can talk to. Nobody should ever feel alone. Nicole: How would you describe your approach to therapy in just a few words? Victoria: Relational, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and compassion-centered. Nicole: You use a wide range of modalities, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Trauma-Focused Therapy. How do you decide which approach to use with each client? Victoria: I collaborate with each client to determine what fits best for them. I like to offer different pathways, and together we explore what feels right. The relationship we build is key and it creates a foundation of trust, and from there we can communicate openly and decide how to move forward together. Nicole: You’ve shared a passion for working with queer and neurodivergent individuals. What draws you to this work, and how do you create affirming space for these communities? Victoria: As someone who is part of both communities, I understand how important it is to have space to process these identities, especially given today’s political climate. I want to create a validating, affirming space where clients know they’re not alone and remind them of their inner strength and resilience. I also make sure to provide accommodations as needed to ensure each person feels safe and supported. Nicole: What are some common misconceptions about therapy or mental health that you’d love to challenge? Victoria: One big misconception is that therapy always has to involve “figuring something out,” or at every session you have to be searching for an answer. Therapy really is just about being present, feeling your feelings, or having a space where you can be honest and receive compassion. Nicole: You seem to work with all age groups—what made you decide to serve such a variety of clients? Victoria: In past roles, I’ve worked with a wide range of demographics—children, adolescents, adults, and parents. I’ve really enjoyed working with people across that full spectrum. Nicole: Therapy can be vulnerable. How do you help clients feel safe enough to explore difficult parts of themselves? Victoria: I emphasize self-compassion and help clients gently challenge fears of being judged, rejected, or abandoned. Everyone deserves acceptance and care, and I want people to feel that in our work together. I always let clients go at their own pace—there’s no rush in therapy. Nicole: Outside of the therapy office, what brings you joy and helps you recharge? Victoria: Spending time with my cats, doing arts and crafts, and sitting outside in nature—those things help me reset and feel grounded. Nicole: What would you say to someone who is nervous or unsure about starting therapy? Victoria: Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it. Therapy can be scary, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. Nicole: What are you most excited about as you join the Castlebrook team? Victoria: I’m especially excited to offer in-person services and connect with clients in a shared therapeutic space. I am also looking forward to building meaningful and trusting relationships with clients. We’re so excited to have Victoria join the Castlebrook team! Her warmth, authenticity, and inclusive approach make her a wonderful addition to our community. To learn more or schedule a session with Victoria, visit https://castlebrookcounseling.com/request-appointment.html 20th Annual National Educational Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEABPD) Conference5/18/2025
20th Annual National Educational Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEABPD) ConferenceOn May 3rd, several Castlebrook clinicians attended the NEABPD annual conference held at Yale. This conference is unique in that it brings together researchers, providers, clinicians, clients, and family members to address common themes in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). This year’s conference focused on the topic of access to treatment for individuals with BPD, and the supports offered to their loved ones as well.
After welcoming remarks from conference chairs, Dr. Suzanne Decker provided information to attendees about how research on psychotherapies is conducted, with the goal of educating consumers and clients about how to be selective about various treatment options being offered in the community. She discussed ways clients and their families can search for information on different treatments and how different levels of research studies, including meta-analyses (larger studies that combine a multitude of individual studies to find common outcomes), and randomized controlled trials (where participants are randomly assigned to treatment arms to compare outcomes to see if treatment is effective) are the best indicators of treatment efficacy. Additionally, she also encouraged people to explore clinicians’ training, experience, and expertise to match a client’s values, culture, and preferences. After setting this stage, Dr. Decker provided information on research done with Veterans struggling with emotion dysregulation, specifically utilizing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and while the outcomes are positive, there are many barriers to Veterans being able to access this treatment, including staff training, the limited staff availability to provide such a complex and nuanced treatment effectively, and limited buy-in from administrators who might deem DBT to be too costly to provide. Dr. Shireen Rizvi provided the Keynote Presentation on the evidence behind the DBT Skills component of DBT treatment, and how it improves behavioral and emotional outcomes. (To read more about all of the components of DBT Treatment, read this blog post by Kerrie Toole, LICSW.) Dr. Rizvi described how her research was impacted by COVID and in wanting to support individuals seeking treatment but could not access it due to the pandemic, and how her team created videos of several DBT Skills that are accessible to the public on YouTube, and you can find them here. Dr. Rizvi also presented on barriers to accessing DBT treatment including availability of the treatment (and how there are now only 557 DBT-Linehan Board Certified Clinicians in the world), cost (as most DBT providers do not accept insurance), time (as DBT is typically a one-year treatment protocol with services 2-3 times per week, and often can take longer than this), and cultural factors (as DBT was not originally developed with cultural differences in mind). Dr. Rizvi provided research on ways to reduce these barriers, including by incorporating trainees in treatment provision, reducing the length of time in DBT treatment, and reducing the “dose” of DBT depending on a client’s severity of symptoms. A panel of providers including Dr. Jesse Finkelstein, Dr. Kiki Fehling, and representatives from Family Connections and Emotions Matter shared ways that clinicians can increase dissemination of DBT through the use of video conferencing and social media to broaden access to skillful living. Dr. Sarah Fineberg presented information on how individuals with BPD are often undertreated due to lack of appropriate and effective resources, and yet overmedicated by prescribers due to intensity of symptoms. She reviewed how to date, medications have little to no effect on BPD symptom severity, and there are no medications that are FDA approved or recommended. However, because BPD symptoms are often debilitating, clients will be prescribed a multitude of medications to address emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, depression, anxiety, and how even anti-psychotic medications are prescribed. Dr. Fineberg shared research on how people with BPD are often overprescribed medications, for example 40% of people with BPD are prescribed three or more medications, even in the absence of any other diagnosis. Dr. Fineberg presented different ways prescribers can work with patients with BPD to reduce overprescribing while still addressing symptoms and assisting them with accessing treatments. Dr. Maggie Davis presented on different treatment approaches to BPD, including traditional psychotherapy, DBT, Mentalization-Based Therapy, Schema Focused Therapy, Transference Focused Therapy, Dynamic Deconstructive Psychotherapy, Good Psychiatric Management, and Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving. Dr. Davis shared information on how each treatment addresses BPD symptoms, and the limitations of each. Saadia Ali, Esq., MBA and Abbey Chesley shared their lived experiences with being diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, the struggles they went through, and how treatment has helped them to build skills to regulate emotions and improve relationships and sense of self. This year’s NEABPD conference provided us with inspiration on how to increase access to life changing treatments, and ways to advocate for more resources and coverage to allow us to continue to provide DBT to our community. We look forward to next year’s conference! Clinician Spotlight: An Interview With Anastasia Wilcox, MS.We are thrilled to welcome Ana Wilcox to the Castlebrook team! Ana will be starting in mid May, so we are sharing this Clinician Spotlight between Ana and Castlebrook’s Intake Coordinator, Nicole Kilian.
Nicole: Hi Ana, as one of the newest clinicians here, welcome! I’d love to hear a little bit about what helped you decide to come join the Castlebrook team? Ana: Thank you, I’m excited to be here! Kerrie was so welcoming and warm. The environment at Castlebrook seemed to fit everything I was looking for and it seemed like a community I could fit into. Nicole: That is great to hear! So, what are you looking forward to most about this position? Ana: I'm looking forward to continuing to practice my clinical skills, meeting new people, and growing as a therapist. Nicole: That’s wonderful! I know you told me a little bit about how you had mainly seen children in previous settings. I’d love to hear a little bit more about the populations that you're looking to work with here at Castlebrook. Ana: Right now, I work a lot with children experiencing anxiety, depression, and ADHD. I also see adolescents and adults with sleep disorders and tic disorders, so I guess I see a wide range of clients. Nicole: That is so interesting. I know you've been in the field for a little while now and I’d love to hear more about your niche areas if you have any. Ana: Yeah, I love working with the adolescent population. I think a very niche thing that I've been working with is the sleep disorders. I love helping people who are struggling to sleep, because the difference in a client who isn't sleeping versus is sleeping is immense and seeing that change is amazing. So, sleep disorders is definitely a niche of mine! I am also interested in CBT, DBT and EMDR therapy. Nicole: That sounds so interesting. You mentioned EMDR, is that something you’re looking into getting certified in and continuing to work with? Ana: I would like to continue to learn more about it. I'm not trained in it but the tools used in EMDR are really helpful and I implement a bit with some of my clients. Nicole: It sounds like you're really passionate about that and it’s great to hear. I was wondering how you feel that you create a safe space for your new clients. Ana: Yeah, I love to reassure my clients that this is a safe space with me and am sure to validate their feelings, thoughts, and everything that's coming out during therapy. A big thing is also normalizing experiences that are going on for them, because we are all humans, and any human that shows up and any problem they have is understandable for that person, and we're going to work through it together. Nicole: I love that because it is so important to make sure that a new client feels safe. So, I guess now I want to hear a little bit more about you. Anything that you do for fun or hobbies outside of the therapeutic setting? Ana: Yeah, I love yoga and barre. I'm a big fan of really any body movement. I also love traveling and learning new things! Nicole: Amazing! Those are all such perfect ways to unwind. Thank you for sharing that and chatting with me today. I look forward to seeing all the great work you’re going to do here at Castlebrook. |
Archives
May 2026
Categories |
RSS Feed
Mission Statement
Castlebrook Counseling Services, Inc. is a group of private practice clinicians with a shared goal of strengthening our community by providing therapy and clinical support designed for children, adults, and families to successfully meet life’s challenges.