WE’RE HIRING!
Come join our team of 2000+ clinicians
FEATURED ARTICLE
A comprehensive guide to starting therapy
Book my first session
96% of clients feel supported and understood by their therapist
Get expert medication support, tailored to you
Check my copay estimate
Sessions cost $24 on average with insurance
Discover how starting grief & loss counseling can support your own journey toward a happier, more fulfilling life.
3 therapists available in Memphis
As a woman of color who has experienced personal trauma and loss, I bring a deep, lived understanding of how painful life circumst...
About
As a woman of color who has experienced personal trauma and loss, I bring a deep, lived understanding of how painful life circumstances shape us, and I am passionate about empowering others to build the skills necessary for healing, resilience, and lasting growth.
I am a licensed professional counselor with a mental health service provider designation (LPC-MHSP) and 21 years of experience supporting adults ages 18 to 99. I specialize in anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, life transitions, relationship concerns, and identity exploration. I also help clients navigate career stress, caregiving demands, academic pressure, and the impact of cultural and systemic stressors.
I earned my master’s degree in counseling from Freed-Hardeman University. My approach is collaborative, strength-based, and trauma-informed, integrating cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused techniques, and mindfulness-based strategies. I am committed to ongoing education and cultural humility in my work.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure of your next steps, I am here to walk alongside you. Together, we will build practical tools to strengthen emotional regulation, develop healthier thought patterns, and create meaningful, lasting change in your life.
Education and training
View more therapists in Memphis
I’m a therapist who brings both professional training and lived experience into the room, offering a warm, trauma-informed, and cu...
I’m a therapist who brings both professional training and lived experience into the room, offering a warm, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive space where you don’t have to carry everything alone. We can work together toward real, sustainable change.
I am a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with 13 years of experience providing clinical services across inpatient, outpatient, school-based, residential, correctional, collaborative care, and private practice settings. I work with adolescents and adults navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, substance use, and behavioral challenges, using trauma-informed and evidence-based approaches to support stability, growth, and meaningful change.
I earned my master’s degree in social work from the University of Memphis. My clinical approach is trauma-informed and solution-focused, incorporating cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and motivational interviewing to help clients build coping skills, regulate emotions, and address life challenges effectively.
I understand how overwhelming life can feel at times, and I strive to create a supportive, nonjudgmental space where you feel heard and valued. Together, we will work toward healing, resilience, and positive change at a pace that feels right for you. I invite you to take that first step toward improved well-being.
As a woman of color who has worked in several different industries, I understand the unique issues that one faces when trying to f...
As a woman of color who has worked in several different industries, I understand the unique issues that one faces when trying to find one's self through life transitions.
Valerie McKinney is a Licensed Professional Counselor – Mental Health Care Provider. She enjoys working with adults (18 and over) who are interested in addressing issues that are holding them back or hindering them from reaching their potential in any or all areas of their lives. She has experience working with individuals who struggle with depression, anxiety, grief issues, forgiveness issues, and other life stressors.
Valerie is a graduate of the University of Memphis and has over 16 years of experience. She uses an eclectic approach in the therapeutic process with an emphasis on developing therapeutic rapport while using reality therapy, cognitive therapy, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Valerie encourages, supports, and asks thought-provoking questions as the client identifies and explores life-changing issues.
You deserve dedicated time with a mental health professional — it can be life-changing.
Not ready to book? Contact me
Look for a confirmation email in your inbox shortly. We'll help find you a provider and guide you through everything you should know about starting care at Thriveworks.
No membership fees or subscriptions
Evening and weekend sessions
Award-winning therapy & psychiatry
What support are you seeking?
You acknowledge that by submitting this form, you are providing what may be considered “sensitive data” and consent to Thriveworks Privacy Policy & Terms. By submitting this information, you consent to receive communication from Thriveworks about our services via automatic calls, artificial or pre-recorded messages, or texts at the phone number provided, or by email at the address provided. You have the option to opt out of communications.
We will contact you with availability updates based on the preferences you provided for up to six months.
Grief and loss counseling helps people grieve difficult losses including the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or the end of a relationship. It helps people navigate their grief process and eventually accept, understand, and move forward from their loss. Thriveworks grief therapists in Memphis, TN have specific experience, training, and skills that enable them to best support grieving individuals.
Grief and loss counseling isn’t one-size-fits-all, but it involves sharing about your loss and then working with your counselor to acknowledge and accept your new reality in its wake. Your provider at Thriveworks in Memphis, TN will design your treatment plan around your unique needs and goals for therapy, applying the counseling techniques that best support them.
If you have recently experienced an event like the death of a loved one, a breakup or divorce, the loss of a job, or another major life change, then you may want to seek grief and loss counseling. Grief can be caused by many experiences and events, so if you feel that you are having trouble moving on from a certain event or find that it is still impacting your life and functioning, grief and loss counseling can help you process it more effectively so that you can move on and once again find fulfillment and satisfaction in your life.
There are many counseling theories for treating grief, one of the most frequently used being the dual process model of grief which helps people acknowledge who or what they’ve lost through rumination while also adjusting to the new roles and identities that this loss has now placed on them. There are also many commonly used therapy approaches used in grief and loss counseling, including Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and traumatic grief therapy.
Grief & loss counseling at Thriveworks is conducted both in person and online by video. We encourage you to choose the option that works best for you.
For many, grief and loss counseling lasts for about 6 months. For others, it may last shorter or longer, depending on the severity of their loss and their grief.
Includes individual, couples, child/ teen, & family therapy
Includes reducing symptoms with medication & management
Thriveworks Counseling & Therapy Memphis is located at 254 Court Ave Suite 110, Memphis, TN 38103, at the intersection of N. 4th Street.
Shown in CT
Call to book
We'll help you find the right provider and get you scheduled.
Book online
Find the right provider for you and book your first session in minutes.