Meet your therapist
Victoria Francis, M.A., LPC-Associate
EMDR Trained · TF-CBT · IFS-Informed · Equine-Assisted Counseling
Supervised by Cathy Champ, LPC-S
Background
Where It Began
My work with horses and people began long before clinical training or professional titles. I grew up with horses, riding from a young age and learning early that they are powerful teachers of presence, honesty, boundaries, and relationship. Horses shaped how I understood trust and responsibility long before I had clinical language for those experiences.
As life unfolded, horses became more than a passion. They became an important part of my own healing.
During seasons when words fell short, horses offered grounding, connection, and a place to simply be. They taught me how to slow down, listen to my body, recognize what safety feels like, and understand that trust is built moment by moment through consistency and relationship. Those experiences ultimately helped shape both the counselor I became and the philosophy behind Liberty Equine Counseling.
Philosophy
My Approach to Counseling
My approach is trauma-informed, experiential, relational, and person-centered. I believe healing involves more than understanding our experiences intellectually. Sometimes we can know why we feel or behave a certain way and still feel stuck.
That is why I am especially drawn to approaches that help people experience change — not simply talk about it.
As an EMDR-trained clinician, I incorporate Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) when clinically appropriate to help clients process distressing experiences, memories, beliefs, and emotional responses that may continue to influence their lives. My approach also draws from Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), IFS-informed and parts-based work, and equine-assisted counseling methods. Rather than relying on one specific approach, I tailor therapy to the individual—integrating evidence-based trauma treatment, exploration of internal experiences and patterns, and experiential opportunities for connection, regulation, and growth. For clients who choose to incorporate horses into their work, equine-assisted counseling can offer a different way to engage in the therapeutic process through relationship, observation, movement, and present-moment experiences. Horses are never required for therapy; they are simply another meaningful way we can explore healing and connection.
I believe trauma treatment should honor both the story a person carries and the ways that story may still be experienced within the nervous system. Therapy should create enough safety for us to become curious about what happened, what we learned in order to survive it, and what we may no longer need to carry.
The Equine Difference
Why Horses?
Horses have a unique way of bringing us into the present moment. They communicate through movement, body language, boundaries, and relationship. They respond to what is happening here and now, creating opportunities to notice patterns that may be difficult to recognize through conversation alone.
Within equine-assisted counseling, the horse becomes part of the therapeutic environment and experience. Depending on a client's needs and treatment goals, sessions may incorporate observation, groundwork, relationship-building, mindfulness, movement, boundaries, or other experiential activities alongside traditional counseling interventions.
You do not need horse experience to participate in equine-assisted counseling, and the goal is not horsemanship or learning how to ride. The focus remains on you, your therapeutic goals, and your mental health.
Service & Lived Experience
A Veteran Serving Veterans
Before becoming a counselor, I served six years in the United States Marine Corps, attaining the rank of Corporal and serving as a Radio Operator (MOS 0621) with an artillery unit. Military service taught me about responsibility, leadership, communication, and remaining grounded in high-stress environments.
I also participated in disaster-relief efforts following multiple hurricanes between 2017 and 2018, supporting communities experiencing crisis, loss, and displacement.
My connection to trauma work is also personal. I bring lived understanding of post-traumatic stress and Military Sexual Trauma (MST) to my work. Those experiences do not define my clinical approach, but they have profoundly shaped the way I understand safety, autonomy, trust, and the courage it can take to allow another person into our story.
Rather than beginning from "What's wrong with you?" I believe trauma work invites us to ask different questions: What happened? What did you learn to do to survive? What is your mind or body still trying to protect you from? And what might you be ready to experience differently now?
The Name
Why Liberty?
The name Liberty Equine Counseling is intentional. To me, liberty means having the freedom to live beyond the things that have happened to us.
It means developing enough safety and awareness to choose rather than simply react. It means reconnecting with parts of ourselves that may have been hidden, silenced, protected, or lost along the way. And it means recognizing that the things we once needed to survive do not have to determine who we become.
Counseling does not erase our stories. Instead, I believe healing allows us to carry those stories differently. Whether our work happens through conversation, experiential interventions, EMDR, or alongside horses, my role is not to tell you who you should become. My role is to walk alongside you as we become curious about what shaped you, what protects you, what you need, and what freedom might look like in your life now.
Healing is relational. Trust takes time. And you deserve the liberty to discover who you are beyond survival.
Ready to Take the First Step?
Reaching out is an act of courage. I would be honored to walk alongside you.
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