About Us
Meet Our Team
Licensed clinicians who take the time to know you. A team built small on purpose.
If you're reading this, chances are you've already tried to get help. Maybe more than once. A lot of people who come to us have had experiences that left them feeling unheard, rushed, or like just another appointment on someone's schedule. We get it. That's exactly why ZipHealthy exists.
We built this practice to be different. Smaller on purpose, focused on people, not volume. Whether you're managing the pressure of a demanding career, holding your family together, or just trying to get through the week, you deserve a team that actually shows up for you.
Stephen Velasquez, LCSW
Founder & Clinical Director
“I’m direct and I’m kind, and I don’t think those are opposites. We’ll name what’s actually going on, then work on it at a pace your real life can hold.”
Stephen Velasquez · Founder & Clinical Director
Ask Stephen Velasquez about his work, and he won’t start with the medals. He’ll start with the people he works with: women and men of all ages, as individuals, couples, and families. Children and adolescents, adults and older adults. For older adults and their families, that includes hospice and palliative care experience. Most come to him for anxiety, depression, trauma, or ADHD. Others come for relationship difficulties, life transitions, grief, chronic stress, or coping with ongoing health conditions. Around here, that often looks like a badge, a bike, and a calendar with no white space. Stephen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with an MBA and an MSW. As Founder, Clinical Director, and Managing Director of ZipHealthy, he provides therapy and counseling built around a simple commitment: careful listening, clinical rigor, and honest care.
He came to that commitment the long way. Stephen completed his Master of Social Work (Clinical Concentration) at the University of Southern California, a program ranked among the top six MSW programs in the USA at the time of his graduation. He attended on a full scholarship through the Air Force Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), a highly selective military award reserved for candidates committed to serving as active-duty officers in their profession; it covers 100% of tuition and fees and provides a monthly stipend. His graduate clinical rotations took him through Methodist Hospital, Methodist Home Health & Hospice, and Ehrling Bergquist Hospital at Offutt Air Force Base, covering substance abuse treatment and prevention, family advocacy, outpatient mental health, and disaster mental health: hands-on training across inpatient, home health, hospice, and military behavioral health settings.
Then came the Air Force itself. A decorated U.S. Air Force veteran and recipient of the Air Force Achievement Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal for clinical service, Stephen provided direct clinical care and led behavioral health programs across Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs settings worldwide, including with U.S. Army Special Forces and with Army, Air Force, and Naval Special Operations Forces. He served every population the DoD touches: active-duty service members, veterans, military families, retirees, and DoD civilians.
When he transitioned from active duty and founded ZipHealthy, his private practice, the setting changed but the people didn’t: at the outpatient level of care, he was seeing the same populations he had served in the military. Along the way, he has also consulted with Fortune 10 organizations as well as Microsoft on executive leadership and clinical program development. Today at ZipHealthy, it all comes together: the same compassion, clinical rigor, and commitment for every person who walks through the door.
We also run a Gottman-method couples group.
Throughout his career, Stephen has served as a clinical supervisor and trainer for doctoral-level clinical psychologists completing their residencies, psychiatry residents, clinical social workers pursuing licensure, and medical providers integrating behavioral health into primary care. He also mentors clinical psychologists preparing for the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) and social workers sitting for the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) clinical exam. He views mentorship as one of the most rewarding parts of his work: helping the next generation of clinicians build the confidence and competence to deliver exceptional patient care.
Outside the office, Stephen lives in Northwest Arkansas with his family. He stays active through Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, and ice hockey, and is passionate about volunteering in the NWA community. He believes the values that guide his clinical work apply just as much at home: showing up, doing the hard thing, and taking care of the people around you. In jiu-jitsu, the first thing you learn is to tap early: ask for help before something breaks. Stephen thinks that’s solid life advice. He built a practice around it. If individual sessions feel like a big first step, our dads support group is another way to start.
“Through hardships, together.”
“When clinicians feel genuinely supported, clients feel it in the room. That’s the entire reason my role exists.”
Erica Velasquez · Vice President, Human Resources
Erica Velasquez serves as Vice President of Human Resources at ZipHealthy: the role behind who gets to sit across from you, and how well they’re supported once they do. With a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nebraska and over 15 years of experience, she specializes in strategic HR leadership and organizational excellence. Erica has successfully led initiatives that enhanced executive performance, cultivated inclusive cultures, and drove innovation. Her commitment to excellence ensures our clients receive dedicated support in talent management and organizational development.
Ask Erica what she looks for in a hire and the answer is short: credentials open the door, but she hires for the one thing you can’t train. Whether someone truly cares. Everything else, she says, is teachable.
“What you share in therapy belongs to you. My job is to make sure the technology honors that: encrypted records, secure telehealth, no shortcuts.”
Daniel Boone · Vice President, Technology
Daniel Boone co-leads ZipHealthy’s management consulting practice and serves as Vice President of Technology. With over 25 years of experience in technology and cybersecurity, an MBA, and a CISSP certification, Daniel has partnered with Fortune 100 companies on enterprise security, digital infrastructure, and technology strategy. He brings that same discipline to the businesses ZipHealthy advises: strategy, operations, digital transformation, and technology decisions that hold up under real budgets and real deadlines.
On the clinical side, Daniel oversees the systems that keep your information secure and your experience seamless: from HIPAA-compliant telehealth to encrypted client records. At ZipHealthy, he ensures that the technology behind your care is as reliable as the clinicians delivering it.
Outside his role at ZipHealthy, Daniel is deeply engaged in the AI and technical product management space, always exploring how emerging technology can improve the way people access care. He’s also a committed mentor to early-career technology and cybersecurity professionals, and believes the best teams are built on trust, accountability, and a genuine desire to serve others. Ask him about password managers at your own risk. He has opinions, and he will share every one of them.
“Facta, non verba.” Deeds, not words.
Learn about all of our dedicated professionals and their specialties.
View Full TeamZipHealthy is adding licensed clinicians across Northwest Arkansas. If you build careful, unhurried care, we’d like to meet you.
Clinicians, Join UsIn a town where everybody’s therapist is a mountain bike, it helps to have a licensed one too.
Based in Bentonville and serving the entire Northwest Arkansas community, from Fayetteville to Rogers to Springdale, we understand the unique pressures facing NWA families: demanding corporate careers, the pace of a fast-growing region, and the challenge of finding quality mental healthcare that fits your schedule, including telehealth sessions that fit between meetings. Whether you're navigating anxiety, relationship stress, a child's ADHD diagnosis, or simply need someone to talk to, our team is here, with same-week availability and a commitment to making therapy accessible, not intimidating.
Moved here for the job? So did half your neighborhood. New schools, no grandparents on standby, a group chat instead of a village. That’s real, and it’s half of what we talk about.
Start with a free 15-minute consultation: a brief call to answer your questions and see if we’re a good match, not a therapy session and never required. Or, if you already know this is right for you, book your first session directly. Reluctant partners welcome.
Licensed in Arkansas, Arizona, Virginia, Florida & the U.S. Virgin Islands. Sessions require that you’re physically located in one of these places at session time.