Linked In Recommendations-Vicky M. Portanier, MFT

Bruce Lew  Clinical Services Representative, United Behavioral Health (colleague)“Victoria was and still is a diligent and responsive clinician. She adheres to her deadlines and is attentive to her patients' needs. Victoria is an advocate in her own right for finding and executing proper mental health care for her patients. Victoria is an asset and contributor to her professional environment with her skills.” July 30, 2011

Brian Needleman  Care Manager/Care Advocate, United Behavioral Health (colleague)  “Victoria is a very competent and experienced clinician who demonstrates excellence in customer service skills and documentation. Victoria has shown sound clinical judgement in a variety of settings and acheives results. I would highly recommend Victoria to any clinical position!” July 30, 2011

Cheryl Chin

“I was affiliated with Victoria Portanier for approximately a year at Fremont Hospital. She took on a rather challenging job, performing utilization reviews for all patients coming through the system, and succeeded with flying colors. She was well-respected in her position, allowing the unit to function smoothly and effectively. Victoria maintained a positive attitude, easily getting along with the entire team. I give her my highest recommendation for a position of the like.” July 31, 2011
1^st Cheryl Chin, Outpatient Therapist, Fremont Hospital
worked directly with Vicky at Fremont Hospital

Mike Reed

“Victoria was a very conscientious employee dedicated to her job as a therapist for at risk youth. She always made sure that the health and welfare of the children was a priority. Victoria held other employees of the program to a high standard. Victoria had excellent communication skills and interacted well with all levels of management. She was extremely well versed in her chosen field and was a valuable member of the team during her employment at Campbell Griffin! Had she continued her employment witht the program, I have no doubt that she would have been groomed for advancement and perhaps promoted to the Clinical Director position.” July 31, 2011

MFT Education and Licensure

Here are the education and licensure requirements to be an MFT: Requirements include completion of a two year master's program in addition to two years (3,000 hours) of supervised clinical experience and the successful passage of a state licensing examination through the Board of Behavioral Science Examiners.

What is a Marriage and Family Therapist?

I found this on a brochure written with such eloquence by Claire Fields. Marriage and Family Therapists have a master's degree in marriage and family therapy. These professional receive training in family dynamics, child development and a wide variety of interpersonal relationships. Marriage and Family Therapists are trained mental health professionals who bring a family oriented perpective to me...ntal health care. In this capacity they assess, diagnose, and treat a variety of emotional and behavioral disorders. Their practice may include premarital, marriage, divorce and separations issues. Based on their educational training they may offer therapy and guidance in specific area of mental health, infant, child and adolescent development and parenting issues. Their training experience may broaden their skills to offer specific therapy in mental health.

Sliding Scale Therapy Services

Are you looking for a few low fee therapy sessions due to an unexpected situation, crisis or circumstance seemingly too overwhelming for you to handle alone? Are you finding it more difficult to attend to your daily activities, having a hard time concentrating, perhaps crying more about dilemmas in your life causing you to feel out of control?
A licensed therapist with low fee/sliding scale fees can assist you in this time by providing services in the following areas: depression, anxiety,grief/loss, divorce, custody battles, anger management, conflict resolution, co-worker conflict, weight loss issues, emotional eating, substance abuse, parenting difficulties, in law conflicts,low self esteem, relationship issues and conflict, legal stressors, academic/career counseling offered. Note: "Interventions" done by this therapist to assist family members who are facing a substance abusing family member resistant to any level of treatment. Crisis counseling also a specialty of this therapist. Call Now!
This therapist sees individuals, families and groups and evening appointments available. Please contact therapist email address above, all calls and information shared confidential.

The Value of Friendship

Sitting across the table are two friends of mine whom I value so very much. It is not what they say but their manner, disposition, friendliness and patience as good listeners and supporters. How is your support system in your life? For the treatment of depression did you know that a support system is absolutely priceless and essential in your journey towards healing and recovery? Having friends that believe in you and "get you"is so important for your treatment progress. How do you develop a positive support system is quite possibily one of the most critical skill sets you could have. Along with the right medication, regular exercise, good nutrition and a good therapist, with a couple of good friends you are well on your way to becoming a vibrant, happier person than someone who stays at home all of the time, watches TV and disappears into isolation. The best way to find friends is to be a friend yourself. Be friendly, give good eye contact, smile, say please and thank you..A LOT... show a genuine interest and kindness to 25 people a day and what I have found is somehow and someway people start to follow you around, they want what you have!!!  I call it God's love and the power of the Holy Spirit, it may be different for you... This is by no means a sermon but I believe at the heart and core of the human condition is the need to connect, NO MAN IS AN ISLAND.  Be a friend, find a friend, show up and dress up and just remember, spread kindness in this world in all of your interactions and pretty soon your calendar will be so full of events and parties YOU will thank me!
Be well! Vicky Portanier, MFT 209-416-8832

The Story of Addiction-A Teenager's Journey

A Success Story

It has been a privilege to work with clients for fourteen years who have struggled with some form of mental health illness or battled the fight of addiction in some way, shape or fashion. It really is when I have walked the journey with an adolescent struggling with addiction that the sadness permeates to a whole other level. Adolescents who are struggling with chemical dependency lead lives completely different than those who don’t use alcohol and drugs. What is this different life and how does it play out in the life of an addicted teen is a point of interest and concern.

Many of the adolescents I have worked with who struggle with addiction are fighting to survive. More often than not, they arrive from families where the living environment in and of itself is a day by day living hell. Many times these homes have one parent figure who is handling parenting alone or if both parents are present many times the parents are current drug and alcohol abusers. Domestic violence is more common in such households where drug and alcohol use are the norm. Many times these adolescents are parents themselves as they seek ways outside the home to bring in money to assist the family in daily needs to simply exist. Structure, consistency and unconditional love is the glue that helps a healthy family thrive and grow together and forward to a bright future. Many of the adolescents I have counseled lead lives filled with poverty, violence, gang involvement, drug and alcohol use, molestation, fear and instability. Given such a reality, what is the best form of treatment for adolescents who find themselves addicted to alcohol and drugs as a means to escape such pain and despair?

It is my belief that these adolescents are more likely to succeed in treatment the first time and perhaps avoid future relapses, more intensified use as an adult, and multiple failed treatments if they are able to seek an intensive rehabilitation episode of a minimum of 30 to 60 to 90 days before stepping down to a lower level of care. After interviewing many adult clients who began their use as a teenager the key to their success was receiving treatment for a longer length of stay encapsulated with recovery concepts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In what way does a 24 hour a day stay, 7 day a week program benefit the adolescent as opposed to receiving group therapy and counseling three or four days a week?

There is no guarantee that any form or amount of treatment will work for anyone at anytime, regardless of age. What is known is the experiences of teens I have talked to who have shared that entering chemical dependency rehabilitation created for them a mindset and unique belief system which invited them into a new world of thinking, believing and coping with their problems and issues in a clean and sober way. A 24 hour intensive rehabilitation model surrounds the adolescent with other like-minded individuals with similar life stories and circumstances. There is a time in each person’s recovery where they “get it” and soon realize that the concepts of staying clean and sober and new life skills offered makes sense for them and they integrate and internalize such concepts and can see their futures in a way that makes sense to them. The old ways of using drugs and alcohol to erase their pain was only temporary, expensive, useless and was simply a more problematic way to numb their pain. A rehabilitation model enforces solutions to problems that are positive and hopefully long-lasting and lead to a lifetime of sobriety.

The most negative emotion is anger.

The consequences of unleashed anger is endless: jail, prison, loss of custody of kids, divorce, jealousy, disappointing your  kids, probation,fines,lawyer fees, hurting your spouse, get the picture? I think I have discussed in the past eleven years as a therapist the term "anger management" countless times. Counseling is a process designed to assist you to unleash those negative emotions inside of you and discuss with someone those people you are most angry towards.  Counseling is a safe, neutral setting and this is such a positive way to release these pent up emotions you have sitting inside of you. You have a right to feel angry and more often than not,  whatever was done to you or said to you was not right and should not have happened at all. But who pays the price when you become angry and this becomes manifested in domestic violence, bar fights, fighting someone at school or fighting with your brothers and sisters, friends?  You pay that price! Anger turned inward and not processed becomes depression so there you go, you become sad, isolated, sad and depressed but at the heart of the manner is that anger fueling inside of you over and over, hours upon hours, days upon days. You owe yourself the opportunity to redirect that anger in ways that are healthy and positive if you choose to by seeing a therapist, a counselor, a pastor .... Many people who are in rehab say that at the core of why they drank for so many years or why they used drugs was due to being so hurt, disappointed, sad and angry due to a a difficult childhood or from a spouse that mistreated or disrespected them. Be good to yourself!  Until next time, Vicky Portanier, MFT 209-416-8832.

Emotional Eating

One of the great advantages of serving as a therapist is the vast resources, knowledge, good reading and friendships you have from other friends who are therapists or just getting paid to read journals and study on many particular topics at one given time. I have been fascinated with the area of emotional eating since my Master's degree which was titled Emotional Eating and the connection of child sexual abuse history. I was astonished even back then as a young practionier fresh out of graduate school how many people I knew, men and women, who were overweight as adults and who had been molested as children. Heartbreaking! Studying this in my thesis proved to be valuable as I deal on a very regular basis with client's who struggle not just from overreating but in fact undereating, overexercising, calorie counting, simply being obsessed and unhappy about their height, weight proportions. The heart and crux of the matter is when you don't have a healthy, win/win relationship with food it can really impact how you see yourself and your physical body. Further, we need food to survive so it is not so simple to just "stop eating" as you can with many other addictions, food is there, you need to eat it and it is a billion dollar industry to get you to try to eat in a different way to lose weight and keep it off for good. I think it really comes down to accepting yourself for who you are, no matter what weight, and sometimes it does take counseling sessions to unpack and unravel the reasons that food and YOU are or haven't been getting along all of these years. Counseling allows you to get to the heart of the matter in a comfortable safe setting, putting words to your feelings and getting a better understanding of why you overreat, underreat, overexercise,etc. People tell me they eat "at" their feelings and the weight they carry around shields and protects them from their emotions. Therapy is a valuable opportunity to get to the core reasons for your eating and weight issues so there won't be a need to protect you others, difficult emotions, etc. Until next time, Vicky Portanier, MFT 209-416-8832. Sierra Counseling Service.

New Year's Resolution

Super excited about the New Year and wanted to encourage all of you with your New Year's Resolution, which for many has to do with getting and staying healthy. Achieving our goals is a powerful process and research shows that when you write down your goals, have a buddy (or therapist) that you talk to about your goals for accountability and motivation purposes, the likelihood of you reaching your goals is more achievable. I talk a lot with my client's about goals whether it is about weight loss, exercising more, getting a job, eating better, etc. Perhaps you may be hoping that once and for all in 2012 you are bound and determined to lose that weight....perhaps you would be interested in finding a therapist to work with you side by side to talk about this process together, I am close to being on many insurance panels and have a very affordable fee schedule. I work at Sierra Counseling Service, call me at 209-416-8832. Do a visualization with me now, imagine it is the stroke of midnight, December 31st, 2012, see yourself and feel how good it feels to fit in those jeans or dress or pretty warm coat in the next size smaller? Can you imagine this? Make your goals measurable, achievable, realistic, small steps only.......   even if you lose 10 or 20 lbs by December 31st, 2012, that is better than where you are this minute but do remember, we are not OUR SIZE, our beauty is from within and is not measured by our weight or jeans size. YOU are beautiful, healthy and powerful today, no matter what!   ......   Until next time, Vicky Portanier, MFT.