Claire-Madeline Corso, MEd

Hey there! It’s so great to ‘meet’ you! My name is Claire-Madeline Corso.

I bet you stumbled on this page after searching the internet for counselors after months (maaaaybe years?) feeling like something in your life feels just not right 

• …maybe the dishes, and the kids, and the parent you care for, and work (so much work) kept nudging their way to the top of your to-do list until you became an afterthought in your own mind. How can you meet your own needs when you have lost touch with what they are in the first place?
• …or maybe your overwhelming responsibilities as a provider for your family – as their emotional rock – started weighing on you, after your dedication to your team, as a military service member, got piled on top of it. How can you make time for the life balance you need (and your family’s needs, and your team’s needs) to be there for others, without dishonoring the commitment you made to prioritize the mission first? What do you do when you carry the invisible wound of PTSD with you even when you return home?
• …or maybe you’re a healthcare worker whose life has been entirely taken over by the demands a managed care environment places on its helping hands (that is your hands). Your sleep schedule is altered, you haven’t had a holiday off in years, and you have gradually become more isolated from your loved ones who work when you have time to rest. How do you serve in a professional role that means so much to you, without burning out in the process? How do you cope with the secondary trauma you experience as a helping professional?

I’m so happy you’ve arrived here. I want to welcome you to The Relationship Center where I work to help individuals find their way back to the center of their life, and help couples find their center again, so that you can feel what I like to call at home in your life and in your relationships.

Because here’s the thing: the people we love, the professions we serve, the country we honor—we don’t want to separate ourselves from these purposeful, passion-driven parts of our lives. We want to live with them in a state of greater connection.

My counseling process is intended to invite connection and safety, in your relationship with yourself, and in your relationships with others.

Ready to come home to yourself? Let’s connect.

MY APPROACH TO COUNSELING

My approach to counseling is depth oriented. I believe our earliest experiences determine what we believe we can expect from others, what needs we are and are not allowed to have, and how to go about meeting them. 

My approach to counseling is trauma informed. I believe that when these experiences require that we rise to an occasion we do not have the emotional coping skills to adequately navigate, we live with an excess of feeling that spills over in the here-and-now. 

My approach to counseling is relational. I believe that our relationships provide an opportunity to reveal these deeply unconscious patterns of thinking and feeling, illuminating the areas of our being where we hold on to old suffering, and provide an opportunity for healing from them. At The Relationship Center, I work in alignment with practices informed emotionally focused therapy which recognizes that enhancing connection with oneself and with others to explore and transform the way in which individuals and couples relate to and experience one another, using emotions as the guide.

A NOTE ON TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE 

I currently practice as a resident in counseling (704016061) under the supervisory guidance of Victoria Holroyd in support of my work at The Relationship Center. 

I completed my Master’s of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the College of William and Mary where I took course sequences focused on the unique needs of military service members, veterans, and their families. 

In addition to training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, I have completed trainings that support competence in addressing trauma and complex trauma, eating disorders, and addiction.

I have a special interest in understanding these focus areas in the context of military, first responder, and healthcare professional experiences and take trainings regularly to inform my work in these areas. 

In addition to the outpatient work, my professional experiences span every level of care from inpatient psychiatry through residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient treatment where I have gained experience treating substance use disorders, and eating disorders, in healthcare professionals and military service members. 

A NOTE ABOUT ME 

I was born, raised, and (mostly) educated in New York, where my family had been since it was just farmland. When I think of where I’m from I think of the magic of summer, and the quiet of the bay, and early mornings when it’s full of clam boats and the water glistens with yellow-white sunlight. 

I care about things like what it means to go to war, how the ways we go to war impact our family systems, and what we ask our soldiers – and their loved ones – to carry with them on our country’s behalf. 

I wonder about things like how we care for our elderly, and what the responsibility of daughters becomes as their mothers age, and what burdens we place on men, to rise to the occasion, and if their needs, as children, get met and equip them for the task we call them to. 

My favorite time of day is the time before anyone else is awake, when I can journal, and connect with God as I understand him. And feel the peace of my resting dog by my side.

Rates

PAYMENT

Cash, check and credit or debit cards are accepted for payment.

INSURANCE

Claire-Madeline Corso currently accepts Blue Cross Blue Shield for Virginia residents.  If Claire-Madeline does not accept your insurance and you prefer to use your insurance, she will be considered an out-of-network provider. You will be charged the private pay rates and will be provided with a receipt for services that you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement.

Accomplishments

• Cultural and clinical competence in the unique needs of members of the military and first responder communities so that I can understand your world, your worldview, and the context of your internal and relational conflicts.
  • Culturally informed clinical practice in the professional stressors of first responders informed by specialized training through the Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative’s Clinical Awareness program providing intermediate training in firefighter culture, the effects of chronic occupational exposure to trauma on the physical and mental health of firefighters and first responders.  
  • Trauma informed professional backed by clinical experience supporting individuals with complex trauma histories including the complex intersection of attachment trauma, post-traumatic stress connected to professional service in the military and first responder community, and enhanced by post-graduate training in evidence based trauma treatment for post-traumatic stress and complex post-traumatic stress.
  • Graduate Coursework  informed by a unique course sequence at The College of William and Mary, post-graduate training, and direct clinical experience, serving active service members returning to duty, current service members preparing for transition into retirement, and veterans navigating the transition into civilian life.
• Diverse clinical experiences across levels of care and clinical acuity so that I can understand your needs in a broader clinical context and clearly identify when additional support is necessary.
  • Clinical experience supporting various clinical acuities including residential, detox and partial hospitalization levels of care in treating persistent mental illness, substance use disorders, and eating disorders.
  • Unique Experience across the continuum of healthcare including community mental health, in-patient psychiatry at a non-profit hospital with the state’s only level 1 trauma center, and private healthcare systems, and private practices.
• Commitment to continued  specialization so that you can rest in the trust my knowledge is current and specific to your needs. 
  • Currently pursuing certification to support couples work from an Emotionally Focused framework through the premier training program in this area.
  • Currently pursuing certification to enhance competence in working with the first responder community through a unique training program emphasizing drive-time with the first responder community in partnership Lighthouse for Public Safety, an organization dedicated to providing resources to train mental health professionals and provide access to these services to first responder communities.
• Dedicated commitment to the field of counseling because we become better clinicians the more we talk about this moving work we are privileged to do.
  • Elected as a Graduate Student and New Professional Committee Member at The American Counseling Association where I facilitated peer-supervisory experiences among new professionals virtually and at national conferences, as well as developed presentations on the unique professional development needs of emerging counselors in a pandemic and post-pandemic culture.
  • Continued Service as an Alumni Ambassador at The College of William and Mary where I offer peer-mentoring to new graduates into the counseling profession, and prospective students considering entering the profession.
  • Elected the Student Ambassador Captain as a Graduate Student at The College of William and Mary where I facilitated a peer mentorship program inclusive of student-facilitated professional development discussions, book clubs, and individualized mentorship sessions.
• Unique educational background at the intersection of psychology, social justice and creativity that informs the way I think of you in your world and this work we do together to create change.
  • Earned Masters of Arts in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, a top program in the country at this historically all women’s college.
  • Earned Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The New School, a university known for its being a home for intellectuals in exile during World War II with a tradition of a commitment to social justice.