YWCA Counseling Team
The counseling center at the YWCA SHR engages trauma-informed, evidence-based practices to help each client move through crisis toward healing. Utilizing a variety of therapeutic interventions, we work with you to design a treatment plan that will work for your specific needs. Under the supervision of licensed counselors, our superbly trained and compassionate pre-licensed counselors provide individual and group counseling for survivors of all genders and ages.
Andrea D. Josephs, BSW, MSEd, LPC-S, NCC, TFT- alg, EMDRII
Clinical Director
Ms. Josephs holds a Bachelor of Social Work from Norfolk State University, a Master of Science in Education from Walden University, and a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Regent University. Ms. Josephs has 23 years of behavioral health and leadership experience but also 32 years of experience in community service to underserved populations. She has been developing and practicing in outpatient practice environments for eight years of those years.
She has been an EAP Disruptive Event Consultant to Fortune 500 companies since 2015. Ms. Josephs has responded to numerous major events nationally, including Hurricane Florence in New Bern, NC, in 2015. She also put her expertise to work after the mass shooting in Virginia Beach at Municipal Centers in 2019 and the post “VB Strong” efforts, the Walmart, Chesapeake, VA, in 2022, and most recently, the 2023 employee-involved shooting Starbucks in Suffolk, Virginia.
Ms. Josephs is a Counseling Education and Supervision doctoral candidate (expected Fall ‘2023), concentrating on professional counselor identity, development and gatekeeping, and counselor training and supervision. Ms. Josephs’ research interests are multicultural counseling, counselor wellness, online synchronous counseling course facilitation, and crisis counseling and response. She has multiple workshop presentations, and her most recent publication is a chapter entitled “Crisis and Online Counseling” in the text Synchronous Online Counseling and Supervision in the 21st Century (First Edition) in 2020.
She has held the position of Treasurer-Elect for the Hampton Roads Counseling Association 2022-2023.
Currently, she serves as the President of the Multicultural Counseling Division of the Virginia Counseling Association. “As the Clinical Director of the YWCA, I desire to see those impacted by racism, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and human trafficking live, love, and work to their optimal level; through engagement with holistic psychological support services.”
Katie Pacheco
Counselor I
Katie joined YWCA in the fall of 2022. She has earned a Master of Social Work degree from Our Lady of the Lake University and is a registered Supervisee in Social Work within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Her professional social work experience is rooted in grief work, crisis management, and inpatient acute care. At this time, she specializes in treating trauma in a variety of populations, specifically victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and early childhood traumas. Prior to pursuing social work, Katie practiced dietetics and worked with pediatric patients in the community health settings. Additionally, she has spent time as a middle school science teacher and has also worked extensively with military populations. Katie is trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and utilizes a psychodynamic and strengths-based approach with clients. It is impossible for a personality to not be brought into therapy; Katie’s frequently shows up through humor, warmth, validation, education, and empowerment.
Identity disclosures: she/her/hers, cisgendered, white, able-bodied, thin privileged.
Jessica Seaburg, MSEd, LPC-R
Counselor l
Jessica Seaburg (she/her) is a resident in counseling currently pursuing her LPC in Virginia. Jessica graduated from Old Dominion University with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling and a bachelor’s in psychology.
Jessica’s primary focus is working with those experiencing sexual, relational, and racial crisis and trauma. Jessica utilizes skills of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and Relational-cultural theory (RCT) to help clients identify and modify their habits, increase their tolerance to distress, and create more awareness of the complex nature of relationships in their life.
As a registered yoga teacher, Jessica prioritizes the importance of a holistic approach to creating balance in life. She often helps clients regulate their nervous system through breathing exercises, movement, and meditation.
Jessica is currently pursuing education in couples counseling and sex therapy to help those experiencing low-sex relationships, infidelity, and shame, exploring cultural and gender roles, redefining monogamy, body-image issues, trauma, and sexual dysfunction.
Samantha Schaffer
Counselor I
Samantha is a Resident in Counseling in the state of Virginia. Samantha earned her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2023 from Old Dominion University (CACREP accredited) and her Bachelor’s in Health Science in 2019 from Frostburg State University. Samantha began with the YWCA in September of 2022 as a Counseling Intern and was hired as a full-time Counselor I in July 2023. Samantha spent her one-year internship working with clients healing from domestic violence, sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, and other complex traumas. She has assisted clients in processing their trauma history and developing skills to manage their symptoms. Samantha’s mental health experience began when she worked at HCA Dominion inpatient psychiatric hospital and continued at Barry Robinson residential behavior health facility during graduate school. She incorporates an integrative counseling approach based on clients’ needs, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Feminist Theory, Narrative Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Trauma-Informed Care. She focuses on building a trust-based, therapeutic alliance that facilitates positive growth for her clients and believes healing occurs within our connection to ourselves and others. She enjoys traveling, biking to local beaches, and trying out new restaurants during her free time.
Becca Bailey, MSW, Supervisee in Social Work
Counselor l
Becca is a Supervisee in Social Work in Virginia and a graduate of Norfolk State University with a Master’s in Social Work, clinical concentration. She attended Old Dominion University for her Bachelor’s in Psychology and Criminal Justice. Becca has worked in settings of outpatient psychotherapy, residential psychotherapy, telehealth counseling, and case management since 2017. Becca has experience working with adults, couples, and adolescents. She utilizes an integrated approach to psychotherapy through different modalities including Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Expressive Arts Therapy.
Becca practices trauma-informed care to work with diagnoses of depression, anxiety, Borderline Personality Disorder, PTSD, ADHD, and Bipolar Disorder. Her psychotherapy treatment focuses encompass self-esteem, self-compassion, anger management, sexuality, substance abuse, grief, interpersonal relationships, and emotion regulation. She believes that by fostering a therapeutic relationship based on mutual respect, personal connection, and achievable treatment planning, restoration of self and serenity may be achieved.
In her free time, Becca prioritizes self-care through yoga, painting, writing, and reading. She enjoys spending time with friends, attending concerts, dance classes, and caring for her bunny and cats.