Valerie Malicki

Valerie Malicki is an Ohio-based licensed professional counselor, LPCC, with 20 years of experience. She focuses on helping people who are struggling with relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting stress, low self-esteem, and life direction. Her style aims to be warm and practical, with clear steps clients can try between sessions.

Valerie uses relationship work and trauma-informed approaches to address recurring patterns that get in the way of connection and confidence. She listens for the stories people tell about themselves and looks for ways to shift those narratives. This can include examining attachment patterns, resolving feelings of abandonment, and addressing body image or guilt and shame.

Sessions often center on skill-building for communication, setting boundaries, and increasing emotional safety in relationships. Valerie also supports people navigating caregiving stress, mood concerns, post-traumatic stress, pregnancy and childbirth transitions, and money-related anxiety. Her approach blends practical coaching with therapeutic methods to help clients move toward clearer goals.

She frames the work as collaborative and paced to each person's needs. Valerie encourages small, doable changes and celebrates progress along the way. Her background as a therapist, life coach, and mentor informs a straightforward, hopeful approach.

People interested in starting can expect a focus on real-life solutions alongside deeper narrative and trauma work. Before booking, confirm current session formats and scheduling details to ensure they match your needs.

How her approaches translate to online work

Valerie uses Imago Relationship Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and Trauma-Focused Therapy to guide her work. Imago Relationship Therapy focuses on how partners communicate and helps people practice new ways of speaking and listening to rebuild connection. Narrative Therapy pays attention to the stories a person tells about themselves and looks for ways to rewrite limiting stories into more empowering ones. Trauma-Focused Therapy addresses how past wounds shape current reactions and offers ways to process those experiences and reduce their hold on daily life.

Deciding which approach to use is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with clients about goals, symptoms, and preferences, and together they choose methods that feel right. Approach and pace can change as progress unfolds, with regular check-ins to ensure the work matches what the person needs.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm session formats and scheduling options before booking since formats are not specified here. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce time spent traveling. Many people find that a mix of narrative, relationship practice, and trauma-focused techniques can be adapted effectively to remote sessions when the format matches their needs.