September 18, 2025 • 10 mins
When Sarah Vendegna talks about her journey to becoming a therapist, you feel the authentic connection between her Cajun roots and her counseling approach. Growing up in South Louisiana surrounded by "good food, good people, good music, and just good times," Sarah witnessed how discrimination affected her peers—and became the non-judgmental friend they turned to. Combined with her own mental health struggles during adolescence and college, these experiences shaped her path to becoming the compassionate counselor she is today.
With licenses in Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, and Florida, Sarah has been practicing in Fort Collins for eight years and brings nearly 11 years of therapy experience to her clients. What makes her approach unique is her commitment to creating spaces where therapy doesn't feel scary—where laughter and joy become part of the healing process. "I laugh with my clients. I love laughing, like belly laughs," she shares, emphasizing how a comfortable, non-judgmental environment helps clients open up and find their own answers.
Sarah especially connects with college-age adults navigating the chaotic early stages of adulthood, teenagers (whom she describes as "feisty" like herself), and adults in their 30s-50s who reach that pivotal moment of wanting more fulfillment. When she's not counseling, this self-described "extrovert times a thousand" balances planning social events with quiet evenings at home with her husband and two dogs. Her philosophy extends beyond her practice: "I really do hope people reach out... whether it's with me or someone else, I do hope people find their place to be themselves, because that's really what this world needs." Connect with Sarah through her website Vendegnacounseling.com, Instagram @VendegnaCounseling, by phone at 970-658-5526, or email sarah@vendegnacounseling.com—just remember, she honors her boundaries and isn't available after 8pm!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Nick George.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of personalized, individualized counseling?
Well, one reputable companymight be closer than you think.
Today I have the great pleasureof introducing your good
neighbor, sarah Vandania.
With Vandania Counseling Sarah,how's it going?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Good, how are you?
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Excellent.
We're excited to learn allabout you and your business.
Please tell us about yourpractice.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm an individual counselor here in Fort Collins.
I've been practicing in FortCollins for eight years now, but
I've been a therapist foralmost 11.
I'm licensed in Colorado,wyoming, oregon and Florida and
I'll probably get more licensesfor the future, just because I
like giving myself a challenge.
And yeah, I absolutely lovewhat I do.
I love being a therapist, Ilove being a counselor, I love
(01:02):
working with the clients that Iwork with here in Colorado and
other states.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
How did you get into this business?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Oh, this is a good question.
I'm a big believer that if youhave like a really honest
conversation with any therapist,they would tell you that they
themselves struggled with somestuff in life and that's why
they became a therapist.
And that's pretty much my story.
There's a couple of layers.
I grew up in South Louisiana,which was some of the core
(01:28):
tenets of Cajun culture is goodfood, good people, good music
and just good times.
That's something I still holdclosely to my heart.
But unfortunately I was exposedto a lot of racism, sexism,
homophobia growing up and thatwas really challenging for me
because I had a lot ofclassmates that unfortunately
were hurting as a result of thatand I was kind of the person
(01:50):
that they came to because Ididn't judge them.
I always welcomed them.
My parents taught me that wetreat everyone equally and we
treat everyone with respect, andso I was exposed to that
growing up and then in myadolescence, as well as in my
college years, I also struggledwith a lot of mental health and
my support system was what gotme through it and just kind of
(02:10):
all of those things put togetherled me led me to this career.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
What are some myths or misconceptions in your career
?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
The two that I think of are is therapists have all
the answers and we haveeverything figured out and that
therapy is scary.
As far as the first one, I tellmy clients all the time I'm on
this journey of life just likethey are.
I'm trying to figure things outjust like they are and I'm
learning and also unlearning,just like they are.
They are and I'm learning andalso unlearning just like they
(02:40):
are.
So we may not have all theanswers, but we definitely we
know how to provide that spacefor our clients to find those
answers within themselves.
And as far as, like, I don'tthink therapy is scary.
I myself am in therapy and I'm ahuge advocate of it.
I think it's a scary processthe idea of change but something
that I really hold in my heartis making sure that we find joy
(03:03):
in our therapy sessions.
I laugh with my clients.
I love laughing like bellylaughs.
That's just a very importantthing for me.
And also I really work hard onjust providing a very
nonjudgmental space for myclients in case they are
hesitant when stepping into thetherapy process.
I really attune with my clientsto make sure that, like, I'm
(03:25):
not pushing too hard, but I'malso going to push when needed,
and so I just really I reallyjust try to make the space as
comfortable as possible for mypeople.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Who are your?
We know that marketing is theheart of every business, but and
we talked about this before westarted recording who are your
target customers?
I know you said everybody, buta lot of times a listener out
there thinks that they don'tfall into any of these
categories until they hear youtalk about about who, who you
think might need you out theremost.
Who would that be, and how areyou reaching out or trying to
attract them through marketingright now?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I am so bad at marketing.
I will absolutely acknowledgethat it is something that you
know when I went into privatepractice.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I was like, okay, sarah, we got to figure out this
marketing thing.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
I have a lot of great friends that kind of give me
some guidance.
But as far as the people that Ireally love working with my
main niche because we're here inFort Collins and universities
are around us I love workingwith college age adults, either
those in college or not incollege, just trying to navigate
the early stages of adulthood.
I've been there, you've beenthere.
It's so chaotic, it'soverwhelming.
(04:32):
So I really work with them alot.
I also work with teenagers.
They're feisty and I'm feisty,so I love working with teens.
And then just adults.
You know male, female, anyoneand everyone from you know 30s,
40s, 50s.
I really love helping clientsjust kind of come to this
(04:52):
realization in their 30s,whether they become parents or
they're establishing that career, and they're just like I want
more from life, I want things, Iwant to feel different about
myself, I want to feel differentabout my world and just wanting
a space to kind of figure thatout and just needing the support
.
In that, those are usually thepeople I love working with.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Have you ever thought about reaching out to people
through podcasting?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I've done one before, and then I had a friend that I
went to grad school with thatshe one before.
And then I had a friend that Iwent to grad school with that
she, um, she asked me if wecould do it.
I have so much on my plateright now, both socially and
professionally.
I think it would add anotherkind of big stress to me, um, to
do my own podcast, but I wouldlove to pop in and just kind of
give my two cents on what themental health field is seeing
(05:35):
when it comes to certain topicsand you said you've already done
one.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Do you want to plug that here?
Is it not a big deal?
Speaker 3 (05:42):
It's on my social media.
It's on my Instagram.
I did it years ago when I firststarted.
Oh, I cannot remember what itwas, but it was honestly just
kind of how to deal with, like,the hardships of life, and I
connected it to just likeproviding space to grief, to
grieve things.
Grief is not just related tosomeone dying.
There's a lot of things relatedto grief that don't involve
(06:05):
losing something like forever.
It's still there, but we justaren't connected with it.
So I think that's what it was,but it's definitely on my social
media.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Outside of work.
What do you do for fun?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
I love naps.
Those are my favorite.
Um, that's like big part of myself-care.
Um, a lot of times I'm at homewith my two dogs and my husband.
That our dogs definitely justmake us laugh and we just enjoy
having movie nights and cooking.
Um, but I'm also like a hugeextrovert.
I describe myself as anextrovert times a thousand.
I'm always planning socialevents.
(06:37):
Um, my birthday is a big thing,so I'm always planning things
like that Me and my husband willgo to musicals, we go to
burlesque shows, we go to dragshows.
We really love just going tolike Denver, even in town, for
different entertainment and justspending time with our friends.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Sarah, please tell our listeners something that
should be the big takeaway fromthis podcast today.
What do you want people toremember about Sarah?
Vandenya Vandenya Did.
I say that right Vandenya yeah,what do you want people to
remember about your company?
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Whether it's me that someone decides to work with or
anyone else, I just want toalways promote the need for
mental health services.
If anyone's just having thatquestion of like something just
feels off, I don't know what todo, or maybe I should go talk to
someone or need a little extrasupport that I'm not really
getting, I really do hope peoplereach out.
(07:37):
There's so many differentamazing services in Fort Collins
.
It's why I love living here.
I mean, there's so many peoplewho are open to mental health
and there's so many servicesthat are there for people.
So, whether it's with me or ifit's with someone else, I do
hope people find their place tobe themselves, because that's
(07:57):
really what I think this worldneeds is just people feeling
comfortable within themselves.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Sarah, how can our listeners learn more about your
counseling services online, andcould you literally spell out
your last name?
I'm going to get to the website.
My name is not easy, is it?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
So my website is Vendania Counseling
V-E-N-D-E-G-N-A counselingcom.
There's a whole slew of thingson my website as far as
information about me, a coupleof blog posts and also just like
little pages on certain thingsI work with as far as trauma,
men's health, women's health,teens, young adults, things like
(08:38):
that and my approach to it, andthere's a nice little box for
you to fill in and contact me.
I do have an Instagram VendaniaCounseling.
I'm not the best at it but I dohave some posts on there from
things I've done in the past tokind of let you get an idea of
who I am and just the thingsthat are important to me.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Well, this is streaming on your Instagram
right now, so you're an expert,apparently.
Expert yes, I've never beenable to stream on my personal
account, except for what I doprofessionally, so you're more
professional than me even now.
Can you tell us if there's aphone number?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Yeah, 970-658-5526.
Feel free to send me avoicemail, a text message.
You can email me, sarah, atvendaniacounselingcom.
I'm pretty open to all forms ofcommunication.
I'm not available after 8 pmthough because that's my
self-care time.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Sarah, hang with me after we're done so I can talk
to you while we're downloadingon both sides, and I want to let
you know how much we really doappreciate you coming on our
show.
We wish you and your counselingpractice the very best, moving
forward.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Awesome, thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpfortcollinscom.
That's gnpfortcollinscom, orcall 970-438-0825.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Nick George.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of personalized, individualized counseling?
Well, one reputable companymight be closer than you think.
Today I have the great pleasureof introducing your good
neighbor, sarah Vandania.
With Vandania Counseling Sarah,how's it going?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Good, how are you?
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Excellent.
We're excited to learn allabout you and your business.
Please tell us about yourpractice.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm an individual counselor here in Fort Collins.
I've been practicing in FortCollins for eight years now, but
I've been a therapist foralmost 11.
I'm licensed in Colorado,wyoming, oregon and Florida and
I'll probably get more licensesfor the future, just because I
like giving myself a challenge.
And yeah, I absolutely lovewhat I do.
I love being a therapist, Ilove being a counselor, I love
(01:02):
working with the clients that Iwork with here in Colorado and
other states.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
How did you get into this business?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Oh, this is a good question.
I'm a big believer that if youhave like a really honest
conversation with any therapist,they would tell you that they
themselves struggled with somestuff in life and that's why
they became a therapist.
And that's pretty much my story.
There's a couple of layers.
I grew up in South Louisiana,which was some of the core
(01:28):
tenets of Cajun culture is goodfood, good people, good music
and just good times.
That's something I still holdclosely to my heart.
But unfortunately I was exposedto a lot of racism, sexism,
homophobia growing up and thatwas really challenging for me
because I had a lot ofclassmates that unfortunately
were hurting as a result of thatand I was kind of the person
(01:50):
that they came to because Ididn't judge them.
I always welcomed them.
My parents taught me that wetreat everyone equally and we
treat everyone with respect, andso I was exposed to that
growing up and then in myadolescence, as well as in my
college years, I also struggledwith a lot of mental health and
my support system was what gotme through it and just kind of
(02:10):
all of those things put togetherled me led me to this career.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
What are some myths or misconceptions in your career
?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
The two that I think of are is therapists have all
the answers and we haveeverything figured out and that
therapy is scary.
As far as the first one, I tellmy clients all the time I'm on
this journey of life just likethey are.
I'm trying to figure things outjust like they are and I'm
learning and also unlearning,just like they are.
They are and I'm learning andalso unlearning just like they
(02:40):
are.
So we may not have all theanswers, but we definitely we
know how to provide that spacefor our clients to find those
answers within themselves.
And as far as, like, I don'tthink therapy is scary.
I myself am in therapy and I'm ahuge advocate of it.
I think it's a scary processthe idea of change but something
that I really hold in my heartis making sure that we find joy
(03:03):
in our therapy sessions.
I laugh with my clients.
I love laughing like bellylaughs.
That's just a very importantthing for me.
And also I really work hard onjust providing a very
nonjudgmental space for myclients in case they are
hesitant when stepping into thetherapy process.
I really attune with my clientsto make sure that, like, I'm
(03:25):
not pushing too hard, but I'malso going to push when needed,
and so I just really I reallyjust try to make the space as
comfortable as possible for mypeople.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Who are your?
We know that marketing is theheart of every business, but and
we talked about this before westarted recording who are your
target customers?
I know you said everybody, buta lot of times a listener out
there thinks that they don'tfall into any of these
categories until they hear youtalk about about who, who you
think might need you out theremost.
Who would that be, and how areyou reaching out or trying to
attract them through marketingright now?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I am so bad at marketing.
I will absolutely acknowledgethat it is something that you
know when I went into privatepractice.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I was like, okay, sarah, we got to figure out this
marketing thing.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
I have a lot of great friends that kind of give me
some guidance.
But as far as the people that Ireally love working with my
main niche because we're here inFort Collins and universities
are around us I love workingwith college age adults, either
those in college or not incollege, just trying to navigate
the early stages of adulthood.
I've been there, you've beenthere.
It's so chaotic, it'soverwhelming.
(04:32):
So I really work with them alot.
I also work with teenagers.
They're feisty and I'm feisty,so I love working with teens.
And then just adults.
You know male, female, anyoneand everyone from you know 30s,
40s, 50s.
I really love helping clientsjust kind of come to this
(04:52):
realization in their 30s,whether they become parents or
they're establishing that career, and they're just like I want
more from life, I want things, Iwant to feel different about
myself, I want to feel differentabout my world and just wanting
a space to kind of figure thatout and just needing the support
.
In that, those are usually thepeople I love working with.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Have you ever thought about reaching out to people
through podcasting?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I've done one before, and then I had a friend that I
went to grad school with thatshe one before.
And then I had a friend that Iwent to grad school with that
she, um, she asked me if wecould do it.
I have so much on my plateright now, both socially and
professionally.
I think it would add anotherkind of big stress to me, um, to
do my own podcast, but I wouldlove to pop in and just kind of
give my two cents on what themental health field is seeing
(05:35):
when it comes to certain topicsand you said you've already done
one.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Do you want to plug that here?
Is it not a big deal?
Speaker 3 (05:42):
It's on my social media.
It's on my Instagram.
I did it years ago when I firststarted.
Oh, I cannot remember what itwas, but it was honestly just
kind of how to deal with, like,the hardships of life, and I
connected it to just likeproviding space to grief, to
grieve things.
Grief is not just related tosomeone dying.
There's a lot of things relatedto grief that don't involve
(06:05):
losing something like forever.
It's still there, but we justaren't connected with it.
So I think that's what it was,but it's definitely on my social
media.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Outside of work.
What do you do for fun?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
I love naps.
Those are my favorite.
Um, that's like big part of myself-care.
Um, a lot of times I'm at homewith my two dogs and my husband.
That our dogs definitely justmake us laugh and we just enjoy
having movie nights and cooking.
Um, but I'm also like a hugeextrovert.
I describe myself as anextrovert times a thousand.
I'm always planning socialevents.
(06:37):
Um, my birthday is a big thing,so I'm always planning things
like that Me and my husband willgo to musicals, we go to
burlesque shows, we go to dragshows.
We really love just going tolike Denver, even in town, for
different entertainment and justspending time with our friends.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Sarah, please tell our listeners something that
should be the big takeaway fromthis podcast today.
What do you want people toremember about Sarah?
Vandenya Vandenya Did.
I say that right Vandenya yeah,what do you want people to
remember about your company?
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Whether it's me that someone decides to work with or
anyone else, I just want toalways promote the need for
mental health services.
If anyone's just having thatquestion of like something just
feels off, I don't know what todo, or maybe I should go talk to
someone or need a little extrasupport that I'm not really
getting, I really do hope peoplereach out.
(07:37):
There's so many differentamazing services in Fort Collins
.
It's why I love living here.
I mean, there's so many peoplewho are open to mental health
and there's so many servicesthat are there for people.
So, whether it's with me or ifit's with someone else, I do
hope people find their place tobe themselves, because that's
(07:57):
really what I think this worldneeds is just people feeling
comfortable within themselves.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Sarah, how can our listeners learn more about your
counseling services online, andcould you literally spell out
your last name?
I'm going to get to the website.
My name is not easy, is it?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
So my website is Vendania Counseling
V-E-N-D-E-G-N-A counselingcom.
There's a whole slew of thingson my website as far as
information about me, a coupleof blog posts and also just like
little pages on certain thingsI work with as far as trauma,
men's health, women's health,teens, young adults, things like
(08:38):
that and my approach to it, andthere's a nice little box for
you to fill in and contact me.
I do have an Instagram VendaniaCounseling.
I'm not the best at it but I dohave some posts on there from
things I've done in the past tokind of let you get an idea of
who I am and just the thingsthat are important to me.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Well, this is streaming on your Instagram
right now, so you're an expert,apparently.
Expert yes, I've never beenable to stream on my personal
account, except for what I doprofessionally, so you're more
professional than me even now.
Can you tell us if there's aphone number?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Yeah, 970-658-5526.
Feel free to send me avoicemail, a text message.
You can email me, sarah, atvendaniacounselingcom.
I'm pretty open to all forms ofcommunication.
I'm not available after 8 pmthough because that's my
self-care time.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Sarah, hang with me after we're done so I can talk
to you while we're downloadingon both sides, and I want to let
you know how much we really doappreciate you coming on our
show.
We wish you and your counselingpractice the very best, moving
forward.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Awesome, thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpfortcollinscom.
That's gnpfortcollinscom, orcall 970-438-0825.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!