Vanessa Richardson is a licensed psychotherapist, psycho-oncology specialist, and holistic wellness practitioner working across California and Virginia. Over a 25-year career, she has worked at every level of the mental health and medical systems — from outpatient and inpatient psychiatric care, crisis intervention, and premier rehabilitation facilities to the acute medical setting. As a former substance abuse specialist, she has walked alongside families in their most vulnerable and complex moments. Seventeen of those years have been devoted to psychotherapy specializing in anxiety and trauma, with a neuroscience-informed approach rooted in her academic background in neuroscience. 

Her career has always been driven by the work in front of her. She began with at-risk youth — a calling that led to her bachelor’s degree in psychology and work with children coming out of juvenile hall. That chapter led to her master’s degree in counseling psychology, and ultimately into the behavioral health system, where she worked across every level of care — outpatient, inpatient, crisis intervention, and acute psychiatric settings. Moving fluidly across the hospital departments drove her to pursue her first doctorate degree in behavioral health leadership. That same pursuit continues through her second doctoral path in leadership psychology with a neuroscience focus. Her trauma-informed approach was further shaped by advanced training under Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk — one of the world’s foremost authorities on trauma. As a breast cancer survivor, her specialization in cancer survivorship is both clinical and personal. She knows from the inside what it means to have an entire medical system mobilized around your body while your sense of self quietly unravels — and has built her practice around what comes after.

Vanessa is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, and the Trauma Research Foundation, and serves as Co-Founder and COO of Armor of God Wellness, LLC.

Vanessa holds executive positions in the sports and wellness world and remains personally active in it. She is a mother. And above all, faith is not a footnote to her work or her life — it is the foundation. She seeks God in all things, and understands her practice as a calling to serve His people.