Dr. Gonzalez is a licensed psychologist who is passionate about supporting families by focusing first on maternal mental health. She earned her doctoral degree from UCSB's Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology Program, and is dedicated to supporting mothers and families, in pregnancy and postpartum through the early childhood period. It's been through her in-depth experience -- ranging from program evaluations for First 5 and supporting families by providing therapy to children and their parents at St. John's Child & Family Development Center & at CALM, to her private practice supporting pregnant and postpartum women -- that Victoria came to see that when there was a child struggling, there was often a mother in need of support -- and, in turn, if a mother is struggling, the family often benefits from care. She continues to feel honored to walk with people in their journey of parenthood.
Service, interconnectedness, and social justice are core values that were interwoven throughout Dr. Gonzalez’s upbringing, and continue to inspire her life and work. Dr. Gonzalez has a heartfelt enthusiasm for professional development and has been instrumental in the development of Haven’s Clinical Training Program, in which Haven is partnered with UCSB and Antioch University to be a clinical training site for developing mental health providers. Supervising, mentoring, and fostering the next generations of mental health professionals enriches her work in a meaningful way. Her commitment to guiding and cultivating excellence in training is accomplished by imparting not only the theoretical and technical knowledge, but also the nuanced empathy required to support and understand the complexities of the perinatal period and parenthood gained in her career of working with mothers and children for nearly two decades, including years of providing direct supervision to predoctoral students at UCSB, as well as co-facilitating a multicultural seminar for pre- and postdoc trainees at UCSB. |