Vilma Cardona, PhD., LPC

Driven, high-functioning, successful individuals can internally feel exhausted by a relentless inner critic, anxiety, or a relationship that feels increasingly disconnected. I provide deep, experiential parts work (IFS) and structured couples therapy (Gottman) for clients who want real transformation, not just weekly venting. If you are managing high-stakes demands while carrying an invisible weight of burnout, you need an expert clinician. I am a PhD counselor specializing in deep, experiential parts work (IFS) for individuals and structured, gold-standard relational repair (Gottman-AEDP) for couples. You might have a highly active “manager part” that keeps your life running perfectly while a hidden, exhausted part carries a heavy burden of anxiety and burnout. For high-functioning individuals, anxiety and depression rarely look like overt panic or inertia. They usually look like perfectionism, overthinking, or emotional numbing. When high-stakes careers and complex lives collide, relationship dynamics can easily turn into rigid, frustrating loops. My approach to couples work combines the research-backed structure of the Gottman Method with the emotional depth of experiential therapy. Together, we map your negative cycle in real time and actively reshape how you communicate with each other.