Practitioner record · Checked 10 Oct 2026

Virginia Ballantyne has been in practice 12 years and is licensed in California. Virginia lists relationship issues, trauma and abuse and career difficulties among 42 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.

Everything below is either quoted from Virginia's own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.

12years in practice
42subjects listed
8approaches listed

01 · Who Virginia works with

Virginia works with relationship issues, trauma and abuse and career difficulties

Virginia lists 12 specialisms and 30 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Virginia chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

Specialisms
  • Relationship issues
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Career difficulties
  • Depression
  • Coping with life changes
  • Stress, Anxiety
  • Addictions
  • LGBT
  • Family conflicts
  • Grief
  • Parenting issues
  • Anger management
Also experienced with
  • Adoption and foster care
  • BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
  • Blended family issues
  • Caregiver issues and stress
  • Codependency
  • Communication problems
  • Control issues
  • Divorce and separation
  • Domestic violence
  • Drug and alcohol addiction
  • Family of origin issues
  • Family problems
  • First responder issues
  • Gender dysphoria
  • HIV / AIDS
  • Jealousy
  • Money and financial issues
  • Mood disorders
  • Panic disorder and panic attacks
  • Paranoia
  • Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
  • Postpartum depression
  • Post-traumatic stress
  • Pregnancy and childbirth
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
  • Sexual assault and abuse
  • Sexuality
  • Women's issues
  • Workplace issues
  • Young adult issues

02 · In Virginia's own words

What Virginia says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

PLEASE NOTE: If this is an emergency, call 9-1-1. I generally check messages here a few times per day and will respond as quickly as I can. I am currently accepting new clients who RESIDE IN CALIFORNIA. I am available for sessions BY PHONE, VIDEO or LIVE CHAT.

Hello and Welcome! Let me introduce myself. I am Virginia A. Ballantyne, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW #98267). I identify as a bi-racial woman and my pronouns are She/Her. My specialties include working with people who have experienced intimate partner violence, trauma/PTSD, anxiety and depression, or grew up in an environment where they were negatively impacted by a family member's substance use or mental illness.

I have received training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, as well as Solution Focused Therapy. I practice from a strengths-based, client-centered approach that focuses on empowering each person to access their inner wisdom and move toward mental wellness. My counseling style is non-judgmental and my theoretical orientation is best described as humanistic/eclectic and unique to each person’s situation and background.

I provide a sex positive environment where issues around sexual intimacy, sexual identity, and sexual desires can be discussed without judgement. I consider myself to be an LGBTQ+ affirming therapist and an ally for LGBTQ+ individuals and sexual/gender minorities. I have many years of experience working with a variety of disadvantaged populations through work in both non-profit and county services. I value social justice, authenticity, and each person’s right to self-determination.

I will provide you with support, help you consider different perspectives, and we will work together as a team to help you develop new skills to help you manage stressors and live your best life! Are you ready to get started? Let’s connect. I look forward to working with you.

Virginia Ballantyne, on the BetterHelp listing · read 10 Oct 2026

03 · How Virginia works

The 8 approaches Virginia lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Virginia lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Virginia's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Virginia runs a session.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian
The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.
Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT
Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.
Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT
A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.
Motivational InterviewingMI
A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.
Narrative Therapy
Treats the story you tell about your life as something that can be examined and retold rather than as the plain facts. Separates the person from the problem - “the anxiety” rather than “your anxiety” - to make room for the parts the current story leaves out.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Works on the assumption that current patterns - in relationships, at work, in how you treat yourself - have a history, and that seeing the history loosens the pattern. Less structured than CBT, usually longer, and more interested in what comes up unbidden than in a weekly agenda.
Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT
Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.
Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed
CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Virginia practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Virginia's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

  1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

    BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Virginia at this point.

  2. Naming Virginia specifically

    BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Virginia is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Virginia.

  3. If the caseload is full

    You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

  4. The first conversation

    A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

  5. If the fit is wrong

    Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

3 questions worth asking Virginia

Built from what Virginia actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Virginia's - Virginia has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

  • “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Client-Centred Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

    Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

  • “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

    Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

  • “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

    On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential
LCSW
Licensed in
California
Licence
CA LCSW 98267
Licence number
98267
Licence expires
30 Nov 2026
NPI
1932509064
Years in practice
12
Gender
Female
Languages
English
International clients
Not accepted
Listed since
15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Virginia's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 10 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Virginia. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Report this listing

If this listing is you and you do not want it here, tell us and it comes down straight away.

The listing disappears as soon as you press this. We only use your email to reply if we need to.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.

Maker Therapy is user-supported - when you start through our links we may earn a commission from BetterHelp at no extra cost to you.