About Me:
Valerie has had a private psychotherapy practice in Wilmington for most of the last 30 years. She specializes in the treatment of families and individuals who have been impacted by sexual trauma, as well as those who struggle with or who have been affected by a loved one’s alcoholism or chemical dependency.
Since 1992, Valerie has also been a tireless advocate for victims of sexual assault in Delaware and for their recovery treatment. She founded and assumed the Executive Director role of Survivors of Abuse in Recovery, Inc. (SOAR), Delaware’s only organization dedicated to providing psychotherapy services for victims of sexual abuse regardless of their ability to pay. As a leading mental health professional with expertise in issues facing victims of sexual assault, and in an advocacy role representing these victims, Valerie serves on the Delaware Victim’s Rights Task Force, The Sex Offender Management Board and the Sexual Assault Network of Delaware. The Governor’s office also appointed her to the Advisory Board for the Victim’s Compensation Assistance Program. Under her Executive Directorship, programs at Survivors of Abuse in Recovery (SOAR) have received numerous awards and accommodations, from the state, from then Senator Biden and from the Department of Corrections. In 2010 Valerie was recognized with Bank of America’s Local Heroes Award.
Valerie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor who has also been a past board president and member of Brandywine Counseling, Inc., and, currently, a trustee of the Crittenton Foundation, Inc. She has worked as an Adjunct Professor of Field Instruction for Widener University, Bryn Mawr College, Wilmington University, and West Chester University where she supervises directed field practice of graduate social work and mental health counselor interns at SOAR towards a goal of providing more therapists who are trained in trauma work in order to more effectively reach out to and serve survivors throughout Delaware.
