We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Holly Varona a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dr. Holly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

When I moved to Atlanta in 2008, I left the corporate world as an Assistant Manager of Customer Service in South Florida and got back into nannying. Nannying for this family changed my life. It was the first job that I ever had that I absolutely loved. Monday felt like Saturday. I knew I could never go back to that overwhelming feeling of anxiety and stress that Mondays used to come with. Both kids were neurodivergent (I am, as well), and they were by far the coolest kids that I had ever met. Now they are the coolest adults that I have ever met, and I feel so lucky to still be close with them and their family. While working for them, I was only working part time in the afternoons. I had my mornings free, so I got into substitute teaching at a school called Chrysalis Experiential Academy. It was a school that I wish I had growing up. All of the kids there were neurodiverent and testing on college levels. The classes were at most 5-6 kids, and the teachers and staff provided the kids with an environment where they could thrive. It was working for this school where I found my way to psychotherapy and helping others through their healing work. At the time I was considering becoming a teacher, but I soon realized that counseling was where I needed to be. I would give the kids their work for the day and as soon as they finished it, we would hang out and talk. That was my favorite part. I became the go to person that the kids could trust with what they were going through, and I was able to help them. Even if sometimes the helping was just creating space with a non-judgemental ear to just listen. It was then that I realized what I wanted to do with my life and what I was passionate about. In 2011, at the age of 31, I went back to college. While in college I became a Certified Life Coach, a Reiki Master, and a hypnotherapist. I, also started my business, MetaMInd, LLC. I graduated with my BS in Psychology in 2017, and then continued on to earn my MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2020 and a PhD in Metaphysics in Spiritual Counseling in 2020.

Dr. Holly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a psychotherapist, I mostly work with clients who struggle with disordered eating, are on weigh loss journeys, or who are weight loss surgery patients. I take an intuitive eating, intuitive living, mindful, self-empowering, and a holistic approach to helping my clients find their way to happy, healthy lifestyles. I, also, work with clients who deal with anxiety, depression, trauma, religious trauma, cult recovery, and who are exploring their spirituality. I am a weight loss surgery patient myself. As I was going through the process I began to get deep into the psychological aspect of it, and that is where I found my niche. There is a gap in the psychological knowledge in a lot of programs, and I am seeing the gaps in knowledge in diet culture, as well. People don’t realize the ramifications that diet culture has on our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. I have a wide array of tools and modalities that I can tap into to help my clients. I am able to better personalize how I can help each client.
I am, also, currently working on a workshop geared towards weight loss surgery patients and those on weight loss journeys to help provide a holistic experience that involves mindfulness, loving yourself, loving your body, connecting with your body, connecting with your intuition, and working through any trauma, pain, or blocks that may be standing in your way.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was going through school, I didn’t have a lot of support. I was working 2-3 jobs and going to school for about 10 years. I lived on my own, and struggled to get by, and sometimes struggled with all of the work. I fought depression, anxiety, and a brain that just didn’t seem to want to cooperate all of the time. I wanted it all too much, so I kept going. When I got to my last year of grad school for my Masters, I had a full on breakdown. I was working 2 jobs, taking classes, working my internship, and moving. It was too much. I was dropping the ball everywhere. My supervisor wasn’t helping. I was being talked down to and told that I was going to fail. I remember telling one of my professors that I felt like something was wrong with my brain, it didn’t feel like it was processing things the way a brain is supposed to. A few months later, I got sick discovered I was born with a malformation in brain called Chiari Malformation. The illness that I had made it flare up and caused severe vertigo for my last 2-3 months of school. Despite it all, I finished school and managed to pass the comprehensive exam and the board exam with severe vertigo. By the time graduation came around we were in the first few months of the pandemic. We didn’t get to walk so we had a Zoom graduation that one of the people in my cohort arranged for us. It was actually very intimate and fun. We took turns talking about each person as we announced their name, and really had an opportunity to make it personal to us. Since we were in the pandemic, I began working and trying to build a client base during the pandemic. It was tough, but I knew this was what I wanted to do. I kept going and made some big changes, took some risks, and that has all brought me to where I am today. It’s not an easy road, but it’s worth it. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

Absolutely! If I could go back, knowing what I know now, I would have chosen it much earlier in my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: Drhollyvarona.com
• Instagram: @drhollyvarona , @psychologyofwls
• Facebook: @drhollyvarona , @psychologyofwlj
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drhollyvarona
• Other: Tiktok: @drhollyvarona , @psychologyofwlj

Image Credits
Dr. Holly Varona