Veronica Zazzaro, MS
My name is Veronica Zazzaro and you may or may not have seen me write an occasional blog here before! I’ve been the assistant here at Life Skills for a few months now but I am excited to announce that I will be beginning my career as a counselor with this group as of right now! I’m so honored to be working among such experience and caring mental health professionals and I am excited to learn and grow as part of the Life Skills family. I’d like to take this time to tell you a little about myself and why I decided to become a counselor in the first place.
As I have detailed in blogs past, I grew up being very different. I was a queer, Jewish, woman growing up in a very conservative, Christian town. Most people I would meet would find some part of my identity uncomfortable or threatening and I was often left out and mistreated by my peers and adults. My family had its problems too, we struggled with money, addiction and mental health issues and this environment lead to anxiety, depression and self-esteem issues for me on top of the environment I described above. It wasn’t all bad, though! Things being difficult made me into an extremely sensitive and empathetic person. I also was lucky enough to have a mother who taught me resilience and determination. She taught me how to pull myself up by my own bootstraps. When I was able to, I sought out therapy and it completely turned my life around.
In therapy I learned so much about myself and I learned HOW to learn about myself more on my own. I learned how to change the thoughts I had about myself and my environment and I learned how to change the environment I was in! I learned all of the reasons to love myself and how the world around me was more malleable than I had ever imagined. I used to think I was lazy, unintelligent and helpless, but, after years of therapy, I knew my power and I have had much success in making myself into the kind of person I am proud of. Therapy, to me, is a gift. I wanted to pay it forward, so I chose to become a counselor.
I’m so grateful that I get to begin my career as an Orlando counselor here! I do my best work with people struggling with self-esteem, life direction, depression, LGBT individuals and people struggling with their identity. I work well with people who have been previously let down by other people in positions of authority due to pre-judgement. I am kink-aware and judgement free! I believe in a therapeutic relationship that is based on team-work and I believe that the client is the expert on their own lives.
If any of that speaks to you, I’d love the opportunity to speak with you! I, like my colleagues, offer a free consult-call so please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re looking for counseling in orlando! The office number is 407-355-7378 and my number is 727- 888-5291