Healing Circle Counseling and Service is an outpatient mental health practice. They offer high-quality, heart-centered mental health counseling and medication management for children 4 and up, adolescents, adults, couples, families and groups in the greater Richmond area with locations in the West End and Midlothian.

Founder and owner Linda Zaffram is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), certified CYT-200 yoga instructor, certified prenatal and postnatal yoga teacher, level 2 reiki practitioner, professional birth doula, breastfeeding support counselor, certified Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing practitioner, perinatal mental health certified, level I-trained Bonny Method of Guided Music and Imagery practitioner, Compassionate Bereavement Care certified provider, a specialist in the Art of Traumatic Grief Counseling and a Women in Leadership program advisor through the University of Richmond.

Zaffram started Healing Circle Counseling in February 2012 as a solo practitioner while working full time to see if private practice was what she wanted to do next in her career. “I had my two children in 2009 and 2010. During those two years, I struggled with perinatal mood disorders after a traumatic birth and the birth of my children. I sought counseling and there were only three therapists in Richmond who specialized in perinatal mood disorders,” she relates.

“I was a therapist and had a hard time finding care for myself, and wanted to be able to provide care for women and families in the postpartum period. I sought out training, began advertising and collaborating with the local hospitals to serve our perinatal families. As an extrovert, being a solo practitioner was isolating, so I began expanding my practice in late 2017. We have continued to grow and now have two locations,” Zaffram explains.

Healing Circle currently has 27 employees including support staff, marketing staff, clinicians and medication management. Zaffram says, “Our practice is different from our competitors because we do community service projects throughout the year. We have collected gifts for the Angel Tree, toiletries for the Backpacks for Homeless, diaper/wipes for Urban Baby Beginnings and food for FeedMore.” 

This year will be their second year hosting the Climb Out of the Darkness walk for perinatal mood disorders through Postpartum Support International. “It is our mission and values to give back to the community. I do advocacy work, as well,” she notes. “I am a member of Mom Congress, where I go to Washington, D.C., every year to lobby for women and families in the birthing and postpartum years. We, as a group, have been instrumental in getting laws passed to support families through our advocacy work.”

She shares that one of her biggest business accomplishments is growing during the pandemic, with their steepest employee growth occurring in the last three years as they grew from a tiny two-office suite to two separate locations.

“As a business owner, the biggest challenge is strategic planning financially. Our business is at the mercy of insurance companies for reimbursement, which impacts our financials. With prices going up with inflation, it has been difficult. If we stop taking insurance for our services we eliminate care for many people who cannot afford to pay out of pocket. We do not want to do that, as our mission and values are to serve all,” says Zaffram.

She believes that the reason for their business success and growth is grit, saying, “I am willing to put in the work to drive the practice forward. The second reason for our success is cultivating an amazing team. We focus on growing our team organically, as a lot of our clinicians came to work specifically for us or have been referred by other employees. That makes me really proud and grateful for the employees who chose to work here day in and day out serving our community. We believe whoever is supposed to be here at HCC ends up here.”

She wants to continue to grow the practice. Zaffram says, “We may add other services that are complementary to mental health, but it is only an idea right now. We are open to whatever the universe brings and guides us toward. Getting to live out my dream of owning a practice has been surreal at times. I am in awe of our team and everything they bring to the table daily.”

Healing Circle Counseling and Services is located at 2819 N. Parham Rd., in Richmond, and 1525 Huguenot Rd., in Midlothian. For appointments and more information, call 804- 924-7600 or visit HealingCircleCounseling.com.