Are you ready to go ALL IN, FULL OUT? Coaching is for you.
You were made for more than hustling or settling.
If you're tired of breaking promises to yourself, you're in the right place.
Here’s the thing: We ALL have a spark alive within us— no matter how small or dim it might feel right now.
And it is our greatest purpose and greatest RESPONSIBILITY to honor it.
Because when we do, we become better partners, friends, leaders, parents, creators, and family members in the interconnected web of this wild, dark, miraculous, beautiful world.
meet your coach
I’m Valerie, and I help heart-centered high-achievers consistently follow through with their big ambitions without burning out or feeling like 💩 about themselves.
I like to think of myself as the Queen of Aligned Action-Taking 👸— but if you wanna talk credentials, I’m a therapist (LCSW) with 12+ years of experience, a Certified Heroic Coach and Certified High Performance Coach , and founder of The Gaia Center, a mental health group practice in Nashville.
Coaching and teaching on how to cultivate more compassionate self-discipline is my JAM.
Clients who are a great fit to work with me are high-achievers (👋 to my fellow adult gifted kids) who struggle to follow through consistently with their ambitions for a lot of reasons: ADHD / 🐿️ brain, perfectionism, overwhelm— the list goes on.
And sometimes they DO follow through, but are relentlessly hard on themselves in the process and never feel like they’re doing enough or ARE enough without continuing to push at full-speed… and their health (both physical and mental) and relationships suffer.
Not only is it OKAY to need support to break through your current stuck points— it’s COURAGEOUS to seek it.
The strategies and accountability you can get with high-quality coaching are not a "crutch"— they're valuable tools that the most successful (AND most content) people use to their advantage.
Perhaps now more than ever before, we are collectively walking the tightrope of this constant mindf*ck:
We want MORE: More aliveness, abundance, connection, passion, adventure, purpose, spaciousness, fulfillment, more JOY.
And we want LESS: Less on our schedules, less screen time, distraction, stuff, less pressure to move and respond at the frantic speed of the nonstop-news-cycle world around us.
So... how the hell are we supposed to consistently honor BOTH parts of ourselves— the part longing for more, AND the part who wishes she could crawl into a cave and stay there for a month?!
HeartFire is my signature coaching methodology that helps you develop Compassionate Self-Discipline and strengthen your 5 core pillars of High Performance (clarity, energy, courage, productivity, and influence) so you can achieve excellence with practically any desired goal, WHILE being grounded in your enough-ness, contentment, and joy.
HeartFire is not your typical "How's it going this week?" type of program. Yes, you will have space to bring your three-dimensional self— AND, every single session will be outcomes-focused.
My clinical background gives me a huge depth of knowledge and experience that many other coaches lack— on top of several certifications specific to coaching that have equipped me with the highest-quality strategies and approaches that I bring into HeartFire.
HeartFire was made for you if…
You've always been a high-achiever, but know in your BONES that you're capable of a lot more
You love personal development, but aren't always great about IMPLEMENTING and consistently following through on what you learn
You've tried therapy or group programs, but they lack the individualized action plan & accountability you need
You know that beating yourself up isn't helping you reach the success you want, but you're at a loss for what WILL help
You're tired of comparing yourself to people who ARE stepping into their potential, and you know that ick jealousy feeling is TELLING you something
Coaching vs. Therapy
For anyone struggling with significant mental health issues, therapy is the best fit. But many of our clients are high-achievers who are overall high-functioning with pretty solid mental health, though struggle to honor their ambitions and consistently work toward their goals, and/or haven’t found a way to do those things without feeling like they are stuck in a never-ending loop of hustling for their worth.
If that describes you, coaching might actually be a better fit for you than therapy— here are few reasons why:
Advantages of Coaching:
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When I work with clients as a coach rather than a therapist, I’m not limited by my state-based license and am able to work with clients all over the world. (I’m also still happy to do in-person sessions in Nashville.)
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Therapy has a fairly rigid structure, which typically looks like a 50-minute session once every week or two, with very limited communication in between. These boundaries make perfect sense within the context of therapy, but coaching allows us to get much more creative with our structure. For instance, some coaching clients use Telegram to touch base between sessions and find it incredibly helpful.
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Therapy often requires a gentler, less-directive approach— whereas in coaching, my clients are ready and eager for me to compassionately challenge, hold them accountable, and give more direct feedback. I like to say that in my coaching work, I’m equal parts tough and love.
Of course, I will always believe my clients are the experts in themselves— but coaching gives me more room to call it like I see it.
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When I’m in the coach role, there are specific activities, tools, strategies, and skills that I always integrate into sessions, whereas therapy is much more fluid and may only get these kind of strategies sprinkled in as specific things come up.
It’s also a much more natural role to be an accountability parter as a coach than as a therapist (…which is probably why, I’m guessing, most of your past therapists haven’t offered much in the way of accountability!).
And here’s the piece I won’t sugarcoat: Coaching costs more than therapy.
While I used to grapple with how I (or any other therapist) could “justify” charging more for coaching, here’s why I now think it actually makes complete sense and is a win/win/win for everyone:
Therapy is part of healthcare, which should be a human right. Of course with a super dysfunctional healthcare system, that’s much more an ideal than a reality in the U.S. 🫠 You can read more on our Mission page about why we opt out of the managed care (insurance) system and what we do to promote accessibility of services.
Coaching, on the other hand, is not healthcare— it’s about human flourishing. And unlike therapy which typically stays within a somewhat-standard price range depending on the particular city/area, coaching fees are the Wild freaking West. According to the International Coaching Federation, the average coaching session today costs around $244— but some coaches charge thousands for an hour, or six figures for a year-long coaching engagement.
While there are certainly valuable uses for coaching in lower-income contexts, 1-on-1 high-performance coaching is a luxury service. Period. AND— unique to The Gaia Center— the work we do with coaching clients is part of what allows us to continue to offer super low-fee therapy for clients who are truly in need. It’s a win for everyone.
The investment for HeartFire ranges depending on a client’s budget and goals. I scale up or down what I include in the program based on those variables, but all packages range between $1,000-3,000/month with a minimum of 3 months.
Want to learn more about coaching with me? Let’s talk.
If you’re actually looking for therapy and you live in Tennessee, reach out to us!
We offer that too, both virtually and in our office in West Nashville. Reach out to get scheduled and come on over to our cozy space. 🛋️🌿🍵