Virginia Inge Gordon

Virginia is a Licensed Professional Counselor who has worked with clients with a wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, relationship issues, parenting problems, self-esteem concerns, grief, and more. She has also helped many people who have experienced physical trauma, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.

In 2010, Virginia earned her Bachelors from the University of Alabama with major in Psychology and minor in Anthropology. Virginia began her quest in best serving the adolescent population in 2008 during college where she served as a Teaching Assistant for Psychology 450, accepting the role as the primary event planner devoted to promoting civic youth engagement with at-risk high school students.

Summer of 2009 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Virginia completed an independent study conducting research while partnering with a psychology professor and fulfilling her role as the primary investigator on Self-Esteem and Family Moral-Religious Emphasis on Female Adolescent Honduran Orphans, obtaining the honor of having it published as a poster, presenting findings at the 2010 Chattanooga Southeastern Association Psychological Association convention.

Virginia continued on after college volunteering at a Southeast Asian non-profit in Bayou La Batre, Alabama where she became the founder of a youth empowerment program that served middle and upper school students (2010-2012). Virginia soon created a paid position for herself by writing a grant with the support of administrators nationally at Boat People SOS. She facilitated teenage leadership groups who became the change they wanted to see, all the while improving their mental health by finding a purpose beyond themselves i.e., beautifying parks with approval of the City Council, launching a Bullying Prevention campaign with the help of Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich, and putting on a community wide carnival to boost morale of a community hit hard by natural disasters (including Katrina). Virginia, given the name “Ai Vi,” still treasures the honor of obtaining the title of a “Vietnamese American Leader,” after receiving one years’ worth of training provided by the BPSOS 500 in 5 Years Pilot project.

Virginia obtained her master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (2014). Since then, Virginia has worked within a variety of settings including adolescent residential, outpatient, and school- based. She has had over three years’ worth of experience working within the private practice sector serving children, adolescents, adults, and couples. Virginia has been tremendously encouraged while seeing meaningful progress clients can make while engaging in virtual video-based therapy since the onset of COVID-19.

As a forever advocate of people in need and creator of programing to support this, Virginia helped develop the Eagle Rock Boys Ranch Mentoring Program in Etowah County (2016) where professional adult volunteers are matched with at-risk youth who need support. To date (2023), this program now called APEX is still running and it is very impactful for both boys and for men serving as mentors! Virginia also helped create and host over 42 videos for the “Wellness Wednesday with Virginia” series while serving for over two years as the Clinical Behavioral Health Administrator at the Mobile County Health Department (2018-2020). These videos are still accessible and open to the public through MCHD’s social media platforms. Virginia also revised the health department’s suicide policy, partnering with the psychology department at the University of South Alabama. She partnered with MCHD’s clinical training team, and created user friendly suicide prevention tools that primary care providers could access on their electronic medical record, in addition to providing face-to-face training for over 500 staff members, pushing out suicide prevention training video tutorials for all staff at MCHD. Virginia stepped in to address the city of Mobile, Al virtually during the onset of COVID-19, emphasizing behavioral health tips to help community members navigate the unprecedented pandemic; her messages were broadcasted by multiple news sources including Fox 10 News. In addition, she led efforts in facilitating a conversation with panelists named leaders from various ethnicities and issued a public forum to address the current civil unrest in our nation (2020).

Most recently (2022), Virginia collaborated with a former colleague from MCHD and launched a podcast on Spotify and Apple social media platforms called TeenPOD where she interviews and engages in authentic conversation with successful leaders who have been named mentors, sharing ways in which they overcame adversity during their teen years.

Service titles: Lifelines Rape Victim Advocate, Assistant Scout Master of Boy Scout Troop 505, Father/Daughter Mentor and Coach for Outback of America

Affiliations:  Virginia is a member of the American Counseling Association and the Alabama Counseling Association. She is a former board member of the Mobile Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. Virginia is a certified mental health professional providing care to infertility patients recognized by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

Counseling Style: As a licensed counselor for over 9 years, Virginia utilizes an extensive approach to therapy that primarily involves motivational interviewing, positive psychology, and cognitive behavioral therapy. She looks to guide her clients in achieving what they view as meaningful growth with a behavioral health focus. She continually seeks to build and sustain a trusting therapeutic alliance with her clients where their relationship is of greatest value. Virginia understands that particularly for young people, it is precious time worth spending to seek ongoing communication with caregivers.

9YRS IN PRACTICE

Favorite Quote: “To Live is To Serve.” Frances Hesslebein, founder of Girl Scouts of America

 TO CONTACT DIRECTLY PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL DIRECTLY TO:

Virginiaingegordon@gmail.com

**PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY SUBMISSIONS THROUGH EMAIL AND WEBSITE WILL BE CONSIDERED**

Ø  See full website for Virginia’s podcast and hub of resources made for teens and caregivers at www.MyTeenPod.com

Ø  Virginia’s Psychology Today profile, which outlines areas of counseling focus in further detail, can be found at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/virginia-inge-gordon-mobile-al/1109381