About Ngoc

Ngoc Luzardo

Pre-licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (pre-LCMHC), Substance Abuse Counselor (AAP), Holistic Health Practitioner (HHP)  & Medical Intuitive, Life/Health/Spiritual Coach

Go to Ngoc's Psychology Today profile

With 14 years in private practice (since February 2010: 4 years in California; 5 years in Costa Rica; 5 years in Vermont) as a Life/Health/Spiritual Coach and Holistic Health Practitioner, I now offer conventional/mainstream therapy methods as a pre-licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Substance Abuse Counselor, in addition to my already established alternative healing methods. The difference between conventional and alternative mental health therapies is like the difference between conventional medicine and alternative/naturopathic medicine–conventional is great for emergencies (fast, short-term, or temporary fixes), and alternative is great for long-term, more complete healing of root causes. It’s like bringing the best of the East (my original background) and the West together. Since services are also offered via video/voice conferencing, I have had clients residing in 9 different countries (India, Philippines, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania, Greece, and the U.K., in addition to those in the U.S. and Costa Rica).

Therapeutic Approach/Orientation

My conventional therapeutic orientation is rooted in Self-Determination Theory (click link to read an excerpt from my Master’s thesis regarding this). My alternative therapeutic approach is informed by a very different theory of the mind, body, and spirit that appears to be able to explain most psychological, physical body, psychic, spiritual, and paranormal phenomena in a cohesive and integrated way. It almost acts like a theory of everything, and it has led me to achieve about 80% internal freedom (i.e., 80% free of mental and emotional wounds and insecurities).

After 30 years of meditation practice and having experienced the deep levels of meditation, I was surprised to learn that meditation does not heal one’s wounds and insecurities (just makes them recede into the background for a temporary period). Meditation is still useful for putting one into a temporary peaceful state of mind which may be helpful in obtaining clearer thoughts, insights, and enable one to better regulate one’s emotions for a temporary period of time which is why meditation needs to be practiced daily in order to be feel “centered” or “grounded.” Once I learned how to heal my wounds and insecurities using an ancient but very common sense practice that is not meditation but is more of a strategic combination of Narrative Therapy, Existential Therapy, CBT, Family Systems Therapy, and an Energy Psychology process similar to EMDR but without the potential side effects, I uncovered our natural state of being which is meditation, so therefore I no longer needed to “practice” meditation (I stopped formal practice 5 years ago) because I am already in that state the majority of the time. What was preventing me from experiencing our natural state of meditation were the unhealed parts of myself.

Scope of Practice

Ngoc generally works well with a variety of personalities or issues (including paranormal), and other counselors Ngoc has worked with tend to give her their difficult or unwanted cases.

  • Theoretical Orientation: Self-Determination Theory (SDT, western), Holistic Healing (eastern)
  • Area of Specialization: revitalization of the source of a person’s inner power to enable self-healing and self-mastery to increase inner freedom from suicidal/homicidal thoughts, panic attacks, substance or behavioral addiction, obsessive/compulsive behavior, phobias, grief, trauma (including sexual), relationship issues (couples, parent-child, family, friends), low self-worth/esteem, self-critical thoughts or self-hatred, mind-body issues, psychosis, and other unwanted thoughts, emotions, behaviors, or experiences
  • Populations Served: children, teens, young adults, couples, adults, elderly, parents, families
  • Treatment Methods: SDT Basic Psychological Needs (autonomy, competence, interpersonal relatedness), intrinsic motivation, mind-body-spirit integration, mental/physical body symptom interpretation, dream interpretation, pattern recognition, holistic health consultation, life coaching

Relevant Education/Training

  • M.S. Clinical Mental Health Counseling (Children, Youth, & Family specialization) Northern Vermont University (2020-2023, 4.0 GPA)
    • Master’s Project (2-semesters): Application of Self-Determination Theory to Medication-Assisted Treatment and Ibogaine
  • Clinical Mental Health Counseling Intern (2022-2023, 1 year 5 months, 1,054 hours total) at Spaulding High School in Barre, Vermont
    • Provided individual therapy sessions for 31 students (as of 12/15/2023) with issues such as hearing voices, dissociative states, bipolar disorder, self-hatred or constant self-critical thoughts, sexual trauma, eating disorders, grief due to loss of significant family members, transgender transitioning issues, sports performance anxiety issues, divorce or arguments between parents, conflict with parents/friends/teachers, parental mental health issues, parental abuse/neglect/abandonment, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, senioritis, etc.
    • Co-facilitated a weekly Emotional Intelligence DBT skills group with school psychologist.
    • Co-facilitated a weekly social skills group using Solution Focused Therapy with school LCMHC.
    • Co-facilitated a weekly drop-in mental health support group and an enrichment group with school LCMHC.
    • Provided mental health support to various classrooms after a serious school incident.
    • Helped facilitate discussion on certain mental health topics in health and wellness class.
  • Substance Abuse Counselor, Apprentice Addictions Professional (AAP), Vermont license (2020-2023) at Central Vermont Addiction Medicine (BAART Programs Berlin and Clara Martin Center 2019-2021)
    • Provided substance abuse counseling and case management services to nearly 100 clients receiving Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid/opiate addiction
    • Coordinated care with probation and parole officers, correctional facilities, police departments, Department of Children & Families (DCF), hospitals, inpatient programs, intensive outpatient programs, Spoke programs, psychiatrists, therapists, doctors, lawyers, Vermont Legal Aid, Disability Determination Services (DDS), Medicaid, transportation providers (e.g., GMT, Stagecoach, RCT), and other health and human service providers and organizations.
    • Top-producing counselor (by far, not by a margin) at the clinic in terms of client engagement (individual therapy sessions and case management services)
  • Holistic Health Practitioner Degree, Global College of Natural Medicine (2010-2012) HHP Certification (no expiration date)
  • B.A. with Honors in Psychology, Scripps College of the Claremont Colleges, CA (full-scholarship, 1991-1995, 3.9 GPA Cum Laude)
    • Honors Senior (2-semester) Thesis: From Passionate Love to Consummate Love
  • Family Solutions in Pomona, CA (1995, 7 months)
    • Worked with teenage girls with mental and behavioral issues in a group home setting
  • Domestic Violence Crisis Hotline Counselor for House of Ruth in Claremont, CA (1994, 3 months)
  • Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, CA (1990, 3 months)
    • Cared for terminally ill patients

Other Skills/Expertise

  • Knowledge Management consulting and application (System and Method for Knowledge Management · U.S. patent no. 20090112678 · Filed Apr 30, 2009)
  • Technical and Corporate Training
  • Instructional Design and Curriculum Development
  • Fluent English
  • Conversational Spanish, including reading and writing
  • Conversational Vietnamese (native language), not including reading and writing

Connect with Ngoc

Find out more about Ngoc on Psychology Today , Open Path Psychotherapy Collective, and LinkedIn. Contact her via email or phone listed on the Contact Ngoc page.

See Psychology Today profile for fees and insurance