Good Neighbor Podcast: Orange County

Why Therapy Doesn’t Have To Be Hard And How Longer Sessions Create Room To Breathe

• Rachel Fyffe & Victoria Coutinho, LCSW

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What if therapy didn’t feel rushed, heavy, or stuck in the past? We sit down with Victoria Coutinho, LCSW from Woven Word Therapy and Wellness to explore a client-centered approach that starts with today, adds breathing room through 90-minute sessions, and focuses on tools you can actually use between appointments. Her journey from a political science path to discovering equine therapy reshaped how she thinks about healing: real change happens when people feel choice, time, and clarity.

Victoria shares what 4,000+ supervised hours taught her about serving different ages and life stages, and why simple metaphors paired with CBT and DBT skills can turn big problems into manageable steps. We dig into the myth that therapy must be grueling from the first session, and we talk about the power of building rapport by learning a client’s routine, stress patterns, and goals before diving into deep history. The result is a model designed for busy lives that still honors depth—less scramble, more progress.

We also get candid about growing a practice from the ground up. From local Chamber of Commerce events and door-to-door introductions in Laguna Beach to listings on Psychology Today and therapist.com, Victoria balances community-first outreach with smart online visibility. She offers remote sessions for flexibility and in-person care through a welcoming office space, plus reflective resources on her website and Medium for those who like to read and explore between sessions.

If you’ve ever wished therapy felt more spacious and practical, this conversation is your permission slip. Learn how a small shift—creating a little space between you and your feelings—can open room for better choices and calmer days. Enjoy the story, take a skill with you, and share it with someone who needs a kinder pace of care. 

Visit: https://www.wovenwordtherapy.com/

If the episode resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it along to a friend who’s ready for therapy that fits real life.

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Rachel Fly.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Now, are you looking for consistency and feel ready to make a commitment to yourself and make therapy an integral part of your self-care? Well, we have the right person for you. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Victoria coaching you with the woven word therapy and wellness. Victoria, how is it going?

SPEAKER_01:

So far, so good. This day has gotten very fun sitting here and being with you today. So thank you for having me on, Rachel. Such a pleasure.

SPEAKER_02:

We are really excited to learn about your, you know, the woven word therapy and wellness. So tell us about your practice.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, practice is very new. So I became fully licensed earlier this year, passed my board exam, and that you know comes after a big application, an exam, um, you know, accruing your clinical hours under supervision. So we have to accrue about, or not about 3,000 actually. And then you get even prior to that, when you're in your graduate program, you do 1,000 more. So 4,000 hours of clinical experience all leading up to being fully licensed. I started on this journey back in 2018. So I took took a few breaks in between, figuring out what I wanted to do, population I wanted to work with. So it's been just a beautiful journey, but this has always been the end goal, and I wanted to create a private practice where I could have a bit more autonomy and add my own personal touches and really just give clients a few more options. I was getting asked quite frequently about hour and a half sessions and what all that could look like. Um so I wanted to open that up to to have as an opportunity for people to grasp onto, just given we're all very busy, but um I was hearing very frequently that sessions felt rushed, and I myself do not like to rush either. So that was my my main driving force with uh I'm gonna give the people some options.

SPEAKER_02:

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

And spend more time too, right? I want to spend more time as well. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, how did you get into this type of business?

SPEAKER_01:

Great question. Was not on my wingo card either. So talk about stars aligning and just following your heart, following your gut. I was doing something completely different prior. I was originally a political science major, so I was going down uh the law route and decided to pivot. I wound up volunteering at an equestrian center that was near my house at the time, and I was lucky enough to witness equine sessions happening on the property, got very curious about what was going on over there, started asking a bunch of questions, and they were telling me, hey, this is this is a thing. We run equine therapy sessions here with humans and rescued horses. So that really sparked my curiosity. Got in touch with some other folks who recommended maybe you try it out, and here we are. So that was back in 2018. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

All right. So, what what are some myths or misconceptions do you think in your industry?

SPEAKER_01:

Gosh, well, I think the main one that has stood out to me, and I was just thinking about this before I hopped on with you. So it's funny you ask, therapy doesn't have to be hard. I think there's this misconception that you're gonna come in. Oh, I have to talk about all the heavy things, and I have to give this backstory, and I have to just go through all the history. I don't have energy for that, I don't have time for that. And I just say, I get it. Let's start with today. What's happening right now? That other stuff, believe it or not, it always comes back up. So I leave it on the back burner. I try to get to know the client now, today. What is your daily routine look like? And have it be pretty client-centered, client-focused, because I don't live your life. You have to educate me on who you are, and that already sets up the rapport and building the relationship with the client where they feel like they are in the driver's seat.

SPEAKER_02:

Nice. Now we know marketing is really at the heart of every business. So, how are you finding patience and building your practice?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that part, yeah. I don't want to cut you off.

SPEAKER_02:

No, you're good.

SPEAKER_01:

You're good. Yeah, that part has been probably one of the bigger challenges for me uh personally. I do have a creative side, so it's been fun to be on the website. It was so fun creating my business card, Instagram, I'm revamping as we speak, and maybe taking it in a different direction. But I live in Laguna Beach, I'm local, and so it's been a lot of connecting within the community and using your resources, going to the Chamber of Commerce here in town. That was a huge part of me getting my name out there and just getting the woven word exposed in the community, and it really is right now, I would say more old-fashioned in I'm walking door to door and just introducing myself and making sure that I'm a known face in town. Um, and then as for online, I'm on psychology today, I'm on therapist.com. I've utilized those resources too, but I have many tabs open on my computer that does it like that sometimes. So I'm learning how to how to navigate that part, right? Because I went to school to be a therapist. I didn't go to school for marketing or how to open a business or anything. So it's been a fun new challenge to get to learn how to do those things for myself.

SPEAKER_02:

Right on. Now I got have you ever thought of doing your own podcast?

SPEAKER_01:

Like you're not the first person to ask me that, and it's been coming up a lot. So I don't know. I have kind of a similar feeling where I don't know where to even begin. I imagine you need a microphone and a blank wall and a soundproof room, but that's just my best guess. But it it's always fun. I I enjoy listening. Um, I have plenty saved on my Spotify as well. Though I'm gonna listen to that, I'm gonna listen to that, and then your your flight ends and then it just stays right to ever finish it. So it's something that is always kind of popping back up for me, but I don't quite know what to do with that yet or how to get it started.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Well, now outside of work, what do you enjoy to do for fun?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh goodness. Well, right now I'm planning my wedding. I'm getting married in March. So that has been my hobby as of late. Um, I'm a big home goods hobby lobby fan right now, doing a lot of DIY. I am grateful that this is the only part of my home that is shown right now because there are just lots of moving parts here. Um, so that part has been really fun. I do enjoy when I'm not wedding planning. My fiance and I we walk right around Keisler Park. We like taking little road trips on the weekend. We kind of go between San Francisco and Laguna Beach sometimes as well. Grift shopping is a big uh favorite of mine too when I have the time and when I'm feeling lazy. I just watch a lot of documentaries, believe it or not. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So, um, Victoria, tell our listeners one thing they should remember about woven word therapy and wellness.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's a great question. I love that question. The one thing I think I would want people to remember and take away from the woven word is I try to be helpful in every session and have you leave with something tangible. So I like to use a lot of analogies, metaphors, and really integrate those into my cognitive behavioral techniques, dialectical behavioral techniques. But if I can just get my voice inside your head of, okay, this is what I remember that she said today. Great. I feel like I did my job, and you can take something tangible that makes your problem feel maybe like a mountain when you walked in down to a smaller hill size, right? I don't want to promise any miracles of, oh, I have a one-stop shop and mountains can turn into molehills, but just to sort of take that breath and be able to be present and be able to see whatever is afflicting you from a little bit more of a distance so we can more observe it rather than feel consumed by it. So I'm a big fan of putting just a little bit of space in between.

SPEAKER_02:

Nice. Well, how can our listeners learn more about the woven word?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, also great question. I spent a lot of time on my website, so please go and check out the website that'll tell you a little bit more about me and my journey and the populations that I've worked with. I started primarily with um children and adolescents, and I've since moved all the way through middle-aged to elderly. So I have seen all ages, all stages, which has been very you kept my you know momentum going and something different every day, which I've really enjoyed. But in terms of where the practice is going, I'm fully uh remote if people want to do that. I do also have an office space that I am uh gracious to be able to rent out from some dear colleagues and friends here in town. So I have a space here in the Virgin Beach and I'm growing, which is great. I'm looking forward to seeing what else it turns into. Every day I tend to have another idea that I'll start writing about. I post some favorite poems and videos on my website. I have some blogs going as well. I write on Medium, I'm findable there at the Woven Word. So if anyone enjoys reading, you can get to know a little bit more about me and my style. Uh if you read some of my some of my posts.

SPEAKER_02:

Wonderful. Well, Vittoria, I really appreciate you being on the show. And gosh, I wish you and your practice really the very best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01:

It's been so fun so far. Thank you so much for having me on. Such a privilege.

unknown:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnporrangecounty.com. That's gnpointcounty.com or call 714 941 2862.