Exploring Grief and Growth: Geneva Walker's Insights on Rock Solid Podcast

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Geneva Walker and what is Victorious Walk Counseling?

Geneva Walker is a professional counselor, TEDx speaker and EMDR practitioner who founded Victorious Walk Counseling after losing her husband, Victor, unexpectedly and being widowed with three young boys. She pursued a master's in counseling roughly four months into her own therapy, channeling her lived experience into a practice that now serves private clients and students at Southwestern University.

What does Walker mean by holding grief and growth at the same time?

Walker argues that humans naturally feel competing emotions simultaneously, but often minimize joy or growth during grief because it feels wrong. She tells Eisenberg that two opposing things can be true at once, that they do not have to make sense, and that simply allowing both to exist without judgment is what gives a person their power back.

How does EMDR therapy work, according to Walker?

EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, helps clients pinpoint memories stored in long-term memory with their original emotions and beliefs intact. Walker explains that these stuck memories drive disproportionate present-day reactions, and EMDR allows clients to safely access, desensitize and reprogram the negative beliefs attached. About 25 percent of her caseload involves EMDR work.

Why does Walker emphasize modeling vulnerability for her three sons?

Walker says boys absorb cultural messages that they must hide emotion, so she deliberately lets her sons see her struggle and cry. She keeps Victor present in their lives rather than pushing his memory aside, noting her youngest, who was five when his father died, has now lived more life without his dad than with him.

What is Walker hearing most from college students at Southwestern University?

Walker says anxiety dominates, much of it rooted in measuring self-worth by productivity, grades and athletic performance, paired with brutal negative self-talk. She often asks students whether they would speak that way to a friend or younger sibling, a reframe that repeatedly draws the response, "I hadn't thought about it like that."

When does Walker recommend someone start seeing a counselor?

Walker believes everyone should be in therapy regardless of a presenting issue, ideally establishing a relationship before crisis hits so quarterly check-ins can become deeper work when life happens. She frames therapy as a confidential space to share the weight, telling listeners afraid to reach out, "You don't have to do it alone."

How can listeners connect with Geneva Walker?

Walker directs listeners to her website, victoriouswalk.com, and to Instagram at @myvictoriouswalk, where she shares wisdom drawn from her counseling work and accepts direct messages. She invites people to reach out with questions or to explore working together, telling Eisenberg with a laugh that yes, they can slide into her DMs.