Biography: Victoria Christensen, M.A., M.S.W.

I am a compassionate humanitarian who has devoted my life to social justice and social change.  I was raised in Southern Oregon in a lower middle class family. My parents divorced when I was seven, which left my mother to raise 3 daughters on her own. My biological father, although he was physically removed from my life at a young age, was my greatest teacher of compassion as he experienced a life time of suffering due to mental illness. However, he blessed me with some of the greatest lessons regarding unconditional love and radical forgiveness.

Despite financial hardships, I was raised in a family of tremendous love and service to humanity. I was also fortunate to be raised in a safe community amidst the emerald forests where I spent most of my leisure time meditating in pristine meadows, hiking, and biking.

I have been honing my healing gifts for over 20 years. I am deeply committed to my own personal and spiritual growth through individual therapy, shadow integration work, the cultivation of humility, and a deep respect for all of my profound teachers (All My Relations). 

I have been blessed to receive counseling at various times in my life and am so grateful for the lessons and personal growth that came from these therapeutic alliances. I am a mature woman (age 51) who has devoted her life to studying various spiritual traditions, healing modalities, sociological theories, and sacred art. I embrace a diversity of spiritual and religious perspectives and ideologies. You can be assured that I will honor your unique personality and spiritual beliefs as it is your free will to do so. I have been exposed to a diversity of personality types and belief systems working in home health and deeply honor this diversity as reflected in the color of a rainbow. It is a strong value of mine to honor self determination, dignity, and respect of all individuals and cultures.

I have a diversity of personal experiences to bring to the table, which are just as valuable as my educational and professional experiences. While I have been through numerous dark nights of the soul, multiple adversities, and endured many difficult transitions, like an alchemist I have been able to transform these wounds in to gold. However, I am aware that severe trauma can’t always be fully healed, but it is a badge of courage that is to be honored and deeply respected.

For years I worked pink collar minimum wage jobs in order to survive in Southern Oregon (caregiving, house cleaning, baking, landscaping, painting). I have endured my own life trauma’s, such as when my house burned down in 1996 and I lost everything. It was able to heal the PTSD from that traumatic loss with counseling, art, nature, and biking. My bike was the only thing I had after the fire and little did I know it would be a major source of grounding and healing. I have also been in various relationships, which have taught me a lot about self love, boundary setting, assertive communication, conflict resolution, forgiveness, and the vulnerability of love and sexuality.

I value my educational experiences as they challenged me to grow and evolve in ways i could never fathom on my own.

I received a Bachelors of Science from Southern Oregon University, with a major in Sociology and a minor Psychology.  During my undergraduate studies I worked at Community Works Lithia Springs group home for adolescent girls. I was a mentor, life skills trainer, group facilitator, and self-esteem educator. It was a great experience in interpersonal skills development, rapport building, and boundary setting. I gained more compassion for at-risk kids from challenged home environments.

I obtained a Masters in Applied Sociology in 2001 from Northern Arizona University and graduated with honors (4.0 student).  My specialization was in the Sociology of Gender, Psychoanalytic Sociology, Social Theory, Women’s Studies, and the Sociology of Art.  I did my thesis research on Women Artists And Identity Formation, which was later compiled into an e-book.  In graduate school, I worked at group home called Adventure Discovery, which was an outdoor therapeutic group home for adolescent girls. I implemented eco-psychology principles, mindfulness meditation techniques, and strength based approach to counseling. Also did more life skills training, group therapy, and individual counseling.

Upon graduation I got a job as Director of Social Services at The Peaks Senior Living Community in Flagstaff, Arizona. I was a medical social worker in a skilled nursing facility working with severely impaired elders with chronic diseases, physical disabilities, and dementia. Some of the job duties for this job were: design and implementation of social service and activity programs for elders, managerial experience, psycho-social assessments and arrangement of social services for seniors, bereavement counseling, discharge planning, care plan meetings, Medicare paperwork and progress notes and interpersonal communications. 

As far as my teaching and advising experience in a higher education setting is concerned, I worked as a part-time sociology instructor at a Coconino Community College in Flagstaff, Arizona, where I taught Sociology 101 and Race/Ethnic Relations.  This job not only involved instruction, but also involved mentoring and advising students about their career and academic choices. The advising included everything from goal setting and planning for students' educational careers, to providing them with the information, resources, and advice necessary to complete their academic program.

Later, I embarked on a book project called Feminine Mysticism in Art: Artists Envisioning the Divine (won 2 book awards), which is an anthology and art book that documents to the work of over 70 visionary artists, writers and musicians. It was released in 2018 along with an animated DVD that was released in 2009.

In 2015, I finished another Masters Degree in Social Work from Portland State University (2012-2015).  I was fortunate to do my clinical internships at La Clinica and Family Solutions, which entailed school based mental health counseling at South Medford High School and Phoenix Elementary School.  I gained a tremendous amount of experience doing individual counseling, as well as some family counseling, and group work.  Not only did this entail applying various theoretical models of counseling practice, but also involved networking with other professionals in the school and community, implementing cultural sensitive practices, and working with school policy. 

For the past four years, I have been doing Medical Social Work for two Home Health Agencies in Medford (Signature and Health Living at Home).  This job provided a lot of clinical experience and problems solving skills.  I helped numerous people apply for a number of social services in Southern Oregon. I also implemented short-term patient centered therapy with a variety of people with physical disabilities, chronic health conditions, geriatric concerns, end of life issues, hospice, grief and loss, psychiatric and mental illness, substance abuse, and financial problems. 

I have also done a lot of crisis work for economically vulnerable people living on the margins of homelessness, or, were already homeless.  I handled all of the psychiatric crisis patients at both home health agencies.  I helped a numerous vulnerable senior living in rural areas get access to community resources, and/or, make major life transitions. As a result, I have a strong network of qualified mental health professionals that have mentored me, in addition to case consultation meetings with Psychiatrists, MD’s, and Clinical Psychologists (PhD).

I gained a tremendous amount of clinical experiences in mental health as I was exposed to a lot chronic diseases, disabilities, numerous mental illnesses and neurosis, social systems in the Rogue Valley, poverty, and crisis intervention.