Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Booth.
Hi Alyssa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story really began when I was about ten years old and started seeing a therapist who made me feel truly seen and understood. I don’t remember everything we talked about, but I remember the feeling — safety, comfort, and genuine care. Kathy was her name and she wore capri pants and wedges, sat across from me with her clipboard, and somehow made me feel like I mattered. From that point on, I wanted to do what she did. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a mental health therapist.
Years later, I earned my degree in psychology and got accepted into the Master’s program for Community Counseling at UTSA (Go Runners!). I was finally on the path I’d dreamed of and had been waiting for. However, just five days after receiving my acceptance letter, I found out I was pregnant.
A wave of shame and fear washed over me. It was unplanned, and it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. After processing the initial shock, I was determined to finish my education. So I started my first semester of grad school three months pregnant and graduated with a two-year-old on my hip.
During that time, I married the father of my child, but I found myself in a painful, abusive relationship that I stayed in to avoid having what I thought was a “broken family.” Starting my career while navigating that darkness was incredibly hard. I remember crying in my car between sessions early on, wondering how I could possibly help others when I felt like I couldn’t help myself.
But my son kept me going, and my work gave me purpose. Slowly, things began to shift. Through my own therapy, a divorce, and finally settling into a job I loved, I started to rebuild. I became a therapist to help others, but little did I know how much being a therapist would help myself.
As my career grew, I began studying trauma and how it shapes our brains, our relationships, and our sense of self. In my personal life, I thought I was “fine” — I was doing well, after all — but the more I learned, the more I realized I had been surviving long before I ever had to truly survive.
I learned how I’d inherited patterns of perfectionism, people-pleasing, and self-silencing from generations before me. When I became a young mom, those old patterns surfaced and came back louder than ever, fueling shame and a relentless need to prove my worth through doing and achieving. While this drive got me out of a dark place, I realized it was also keeping me stuck in overdrive.
While providing trauma therapy, I saw myself in many of my clients. I saw that we were both stuck in the same cycle. I started to see how the same tools that once kept me and my clients safe were now keeping us stuck.
Trauma survivors are strong because we had to be but eventually, I realized strength wasn’t the goal anymore. The ultimate healing was learning how to soften. To slow down. To stop living in a constant state of survival.
It became a beautiful experience — both as a trauma survivor and a trauma therapist. I was healing alongside my clients, learning the power of nervous system regulation, the embodiment of safety and stillness, and the importance of deep, genuine connection.
I realized that knowing your triggers and patters is different from feeling safe and secure within yourself, and true healing happens when we allow ourselves to heal, in safe spaces, without judgment.
Today, my work sits at the intersection of therapy and coaching. As a therapist, I meet clients in the trenches, helping them deeply process their patterns and pain. As a coach, I meet them in the messy middle — guiding them to integrate and embody what healing actually feels like in real life.
My mission is to help women move from survival to self-trust, from proving to peace, and from performing to truly living.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not.
Building a career while being a single mom is tough. You are pulled in every way possible and somehow have to find energy and strength you didn’t know was in you. My heart with forever and always be with single mothers.
It took a while to find my steady, stable business path but in 2021, I opened up my virtual private practice. And in 2024 I officially opened my coaching business.
In between, I had to learn how to navigate difficult relationships, set boundaries, and really learn to value myself in a way that no one ever had.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Empowered Mind + Body Co.. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Although I have two businesses, a private practice and coaching business, I want to focus on my coaching practice, The Mind + Body Empowerment Co. because this is the work most women don’t realize they need.
Through my coaching brand, I work with women who’ve already done some therapy or self-growth work but still find themselves spinning in the same patterns—people-pleasing, over-functioning, feeling “fine” on the outside but overwhelmed inside
What sets my work apart is the depth. I don’t do surface-level mindset hacks or quick fixes. My coaching and therapy both integrate evidence-based trauma work with nervous system regulation, emotional embodiment, and real-life integration. It’s not just about knowing what to do—it’s about feeling safe enough to live it. Coaching, specifically in my signature healing group, Reclaim, provides a safe space and community for women to feel supported, seen, and safe.
When I was struggling, I didn’t need to be told how strong I was over and over, I needed a space where I didn’t have to be. I needed a space where someone could validate my experience, deeply understand, and give me the tools and guidance to honor myself in all the ways- mind, body, and soul. I didn’t have that space back then, so I created one. Healing in community changes everything, and we were never meant to do life alone.
My brand represents authenticity, vulnerability and FUN! Healing is a blend of emotional depth and the enjoyment of life again. I help women to get their spark back without lighting everything on fire and create a life that feels sustainable and freeing.
All of my work centers YOU as the expert of your life. I am not here to tell you what to do, I am here to guide you to do what feels most authentic and aligned to you, while giving yourself permission to shift as needed. My work helps women feel empowered through self compassion and unconditional self love, inviting all parts of them to feel seen and understood.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The coaching world is wild because anyone can call themselves a coach or an expert. I think its important to know and understand someones background, credentials, and education around the topic you are needing support with and ESPECIALLY when it comes to mental health.
I am curious to see if the coaching space will become more regulated. But overall I am hoping that more and more poeple will see the importance of having support in various aspects of their lives… whether it be a parenting coach, mental health coach, business coach. We ALL need support and I hope this becomes more normalized.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heyalyssabooth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyalyssabooth/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssabooth
