Volare Counseling Puts Women At The Center Of Care

There are seasons of life when emotional wellbeing can become intertwined with nearly everything else. Relationships, work, family responsibilities, physical concerns, stress, routines, and personal expectations can all influence how someone experiences daily life. Volare Counseling, led by Andrea Cruz, MA, LMFT, is building an integrative approach that recognizes those connections and gives the individual a central place in the care process.

For women navigating complicated circumstances, that broader perspective can offer an important alternative to compartmentalized care. Volare's philosophy is rooted in the belief that people are more than their diagnoses. Its model considers emotional, physical, relational, and environmental factors while bringing together behavioral health, medical perspectives, functional medicine informed thinking, and practical support.

Seeing The Whole Person Behind The Symptom

Volare's approach begins with personalization. Its clinicians do not rely on one therapeutic model for every individual. Depending on a person's needs, history, goals, and circumstances, care may incorporate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Internal Family Systems informed approaches, somatic and nervous system informed practices, trauma focused approaches including EMDR when appropriate, mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and humanistic and existential approaches.

That flexibility reflects the reality that personal growth rarely follows a single path. One person may need support in understanding patterns in relationships. Another may be working through trauma related experiences. Someone else may be trying to better understand stress, emotional responses, or the circumstances affecting daily functioning.

Volare's holistic approach encourages consideration of the larger context. Sleep, nutrition, movement, relationships, work, finances, stress, spirituality, medical concerns, and daily routines can all form part of the conversation. Rather than asking only what symptom is being treated, the practice seeks to understand what may be contributing to the broader picture.

When Mental Health And Everyday Life Intersect

Volare also brings medical perspectives into its multidisciplinary model. Its team includes mental health clinicians, a Nurse Practitioner, and a physician. When appropriate, the medical team can evaluate health concerns that may intersect with emotional and psychological wellbeing and determine whether additional assessment, treatment, or referral may be appropriate.

The practice's functional medicine informed perspective may consider sleep and recovery, nutrition and lifestyle, stress and nervous system regulation, energy and fatigue, hormonal and metabolic considerations, medical history, medications and supplements, physical symptoms, and environmental factors.

Importantly, Volare states that functional medicine informed thinking does not replace conventional medical care. Instead, it can offer an additional perspective when appropriate and help identify areas that may warrant further medical attention or collaboration.

That distinction reflects Volare's larger philosophy. Good care does not require one professional to have every answer. It can mean creating the right team around the individual.

Relationships, Community, And The Value Of Being Heard

Connection is also part of Volare's model. The practice offers small group experiences designed to create opportunities for shared understanding, accountability, and connection. Its groups are intentionally kept small, with trained facilitators and progress checkpoints incorporated into programs.

For someone who has felt isolated by a personal struggle, being in a carefully facilitated environment with others can create a different kind of experience. Instead of navigating every challenge alone, participants can encounter perspectives from people facing their own circumstances while developing greater awareness of shared patterns.

Volare's multidisciplinary philosophy also extends to collaboration with other professionals. With appropriate consent and within each professional's scope, the practice can work alongside therapists, physicians, psychiatrists, primary care providers, somatic practitioners, spiritual professionals, and other qualified specialists. When a concern falls outside the practice's scope, appropriate referral remains part of the model.

A Former Client's Perspective

The importance of feeling heard and supported is also reflected in the experiences of people who have worked with Cruz. One former client described Cruz as someone who created “a safe space” to look inward and do meaningful personal work, while introducing tools such as mindfulness and a holistic approach to mental health.

The former client recalled feeling “really connected and heard” during their sessions and said Cruz's guidance ultimately inspired them to pursue a career in the mental health field. They also described Cruz as a lasting role model whose warmth and compassion continued to influence them beyond their time in therapy.

Reflecting on that lasting impact, the former client shared that the tools Cruz introduced remain part of their everyday life, expressing deep gratitude for what they learned through their work together.

Andrea Cruz's Commitment To Inclusive Growth

Andrea Cruz's career has helped shape this emphasis on individualized support. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Clinical Director, and CAMFT Certified Clinical Supervisor, Cruz has experience across mental health, trauma, addiction, crisis care, residential treatment, and community based services. She has also led multidisciplinary teams and developed clinical programs and group therapy models.

Cruz earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts from California State University, Long Beach and a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from National University. She has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 2021 and became a CAMFT Certified Clinical Supervisor in 2024. Her academic interests have included humanistic psychology, environmental psychology, and holistic approaches to living.

At the heart of her work is the belief that people are more than their diagnoses, trauma, or the circumstances that brought them into treatment. Her stated mission is to help individuals develop insight, resilience, confidence, healthier patterns, and a stronger sense of purpose.

Volare Counseling Recognized for Integrated Mental Health Care

Volare Counseling has been recognized by Evergreen Awards as the Best Integrated Mental Health and Wellness Provider in Long Beach, California of 2026, honoring its integrative approach to mental health, multidisciplinary philosophy, personalized care, and commitment to supporting the whole person.

The recognition reflects the qualities at the center of Volare’s model, including therapeutic versatility, whole-person care, multidisciplinary collaboration, group support, clinical leadership, professional development, and the ability to support people across different circumstances and stages of life.

For Volare Counseling, the distinction reinforces its broader philosophy: bringing clinical care, wellness perspectives, professional collaboration, and practical support together while keeping the individual at the center of care.

Discover Volare And Andrea Cruz

Women interested in learning more about Volare Counseling's philosophy can explore the practice and its founder through these official channels:

• Andrea Cruz on LinkedIn
• Volare Counseling on LinkedIn
• Andrea Cruz on Facebook
• Volare Counseling on Instagram
• Volare Counseling on YouTube

Volare's approach ultimately asks readers to consider a different question about mental health care: What happens when the person comes before the diagnosis? For a practice built around inclusive growth, the answer begins with listening to the whole story, recognizing individual circumstances, and connecting the forms of professional support that may be appropriate.

For women moving through different stages of life, that perspective can be especially meaningful. Volare Counseling is working toward a model in which emotional wellbeing, relationships, physical health, personal growth, and everyday life can be considered as interconnected parts of the person seeking support.