Victoria M Portanier, MFT

I’ve been trying to find a therapist for my daughter that has some emotional issues going on, struggling over life changes and just needs someone to talk to about them. I contacted Victoria and was told she helps children, then when I mentioned the emotional issues, she said she can’t help. I can’t imagine turning down clients that need help or only seeing people with easy fixes or without issues. Maybe she has some other specialty.

I found Victoria’s name on a court approved list of co-​parenting counselors, My ex and I needed to attend 10 sessions and after learning Victoria had a flexible schedule and accepted my insurance we selected her, big mistake.
Victoria took self-​disclosure to another level, she often would ramble on about things she saw in the news, her history and accolades, she mentioned things sometimes that left me feeling awkward in the session. One session Victoria carried on for 25 minutes (out of a 45 – 50 minute session) about how she used to make food for «little mexican children» in Texas after Selena died, Seriously!
Victoria had issues with her wi-​fi in the office and on 1 occasion (because I work in the computer field) asked me to spend session time to troubleshoot her connection issues, after 10 minutes of troubleshooting, to no avail, I suggested that she visit the Geek Squad.
The sessions had no real structure to it. We were given 2 handouts on effective communication but due to the hostility of my Ex and our inability to communicate effectively (which is the reason we were seeing Victoria) we were unable to get much progress done. Victoria had a hard time reigning in the sessions and would often let things escalate to the point of yelling. When I mentioned (at week 6) that this wasn’t working and we needed more structure, Victoria got very offended that I’d question her style and started yelling at me. I tried explaining to her that I was giving feedback based on my experience with the session and she became very defensive.
When the sessions were done I’d leave and my ex often would stay around a bit and chat with Victoria, or they’d both chat in the elevator on the way out of the building, this also had me a bit uncomfortable, it was almost like they were becoming buddies.
Recently my ex and I sought a mediator to be involved in a custody change, Victoria gave highly inaccurate and fabricated details about our sessions to the mediator.
I will now be looking into how I can notify the courts that she should NOT be on this approved list of mediators.

Due to her great reviews and extensive credentials, I selected Victoria as a co-​parenting counselor for my son’s mother and I. Victoria was very professional and provided us with an overview of the topics that would be covered in our sessions. Victoria is a great listener and does a good job of remaining neutral between both parties. She has a very straightforward personality (while remaining professional) and is not afraid to point out areas of improvement for both parties involved (take this into consideration if you are overly sensitive). Being that I am not local and Victoria’s office is located in Downtown Martinez (a one hour drive from my home), she was kind enough to accommodate my work schedule by providing service to us on a Sunday (her only day off). I highly recommend Victoria!

Victoria is very unprofessional, and seems a bit all over the place. I was seeing her for co-​parenting therapy with the father of my son. We were initially scheduled for a date that Victoria and the other parent set up amongst themselves, however, she double booked us with her personal life, which created a big scheduling fiasco for two people who don’t already get along, and cannot agree on one thing. When we finally all agreed to a date, she was late to the appointment. The appointment was scheduled for a Sunday at 1pm. The appointment consisted of her having the other parent fill out insurance paper work, which if she was professional she should have arrived early, and advised the other parent to arrive early to fill out all that paper work. Nevertheless, that session consisted of paperwork, her telling us about herself, her curriculum, and her goals. Also she came into the session with an agenda with the other parent, stating they would only do weekend sessions or over the phone sessions. I felt as the therapist, she should have authority over how she wants to run her sessions. Seeing as to how it was so difficult to get us in a session, if she laid a foundation and said you have to adhere to this regardless; this is court ordered, maybe the other parent wouldn’t have been able to manipulate her as much into phone sessions. None the less, phone sessions were a disaster, no real control over the sessions, everyone was arguing. Then finally in our session where I advised her we would no longer be needed her services, she gave the other parent my cell phone number after I advised her not to give it him (well confirmation of my phone number because he had it prior, but I never responded to his text message for him to know it was really my phone number). She started of the session scolding us like school children about how she’s not going to discuss our schedules anymore, which came from left field since I had not talked to her since our last session the previous week. I called her out about talking to the other parent behind my back and giving out my cell phone number, her code of confidentiality she should uphold as a therapist and how she should not be discussing our sessions in reports to the court. She flew off the handle, and was no longer in therapist mode. She was arguing with me. I would NOT recommend her unless you do not need much help. Honestly she seems a bit unstable herself. I mean what kind of therapist would argue with a client during a session?

Victoria is extremely responsive, easy to connect with, caring, and provides great insight. I would highly recommend her!