Hello! My name is Virginia (Gigi) Alcalde; I am a registered dietitian, therapist, and yoga and mindfulness teacher. From an early age, I became very curious about the nature of the human condition and fascinated by the mind-body-spirit connection. Over the years, I studied various styles of yoga and meditation, nutrition, psychology, and other therapeutic approaches and modalities from various backgrounds and traditions. My formal education includes earning a bachelor of science in Dietetics and Nutrition from Florida International University. Following, I went on to complete my Dietetic Internship at Bastyr University where I later attended to earn a master’s of arts in Counseling Psychology. During my master's, I trained in Jungian Advanced Motor Processing (JAMP™), a specialized therapy to treat trauma and other various psychological conditions. I have also completed multiple yoga teacher trainings in mindfulness, meditation, and hatha and vinyasa styles of yoga.
My professional background includes working as a nutrition educator for a non-profit organization where I developed and facilitated nutrition groups for K-12 school children. After earning my license as a registered dietitian in 2018, I’ve been working in the eating disorder field at various levels of care where I support adolescents and adults in healing their relationship with food and body by providing nutrition counseling, medical nutrition therapy, and mental health therapy, as well as facilitating meal support groups and mindful movement groups. Since 2020, while doing my graduate counseling psychology program and post graduation, I interned and worked at two different local organizations as a mental health counselor supporting individuals struggling with various conditions including eating disorders/disordered eating, body dysmorphia, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorders, ADHD, anxiety, depression, trauma, post-traumatic stress, low-sense of self-worth, and relational and attachment challenges. I also have been teaching yoga and mindfulness practices in different public and private settings since 2013.
My clinical specialties are eating disorders: AN, BN, BED, ARFID, OSFED, disordered eating, healing relationship with food and body, food behavior, nutritional deficiencies, pre-diabetes and diabetes, gastrointestinal conditions: GERD and IBS among others, strengthening and healing the gut-brain connection through behavior change and the use of food and supplements, support with plant-based nutrition: vegetarianism, veganism, general mental health support and conditions such as eating disorders, depression, anxiety, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress, trauma, and body dysmorphia among others.
I identify as Latinx and offer all my services in English and Spanish.
