We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Valerie Davis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Valerie, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I started my practice, Holistic Mountain Healing, LLC (previously Holistic Mountain Counseling) back in the whirlwind year that was 2020. Before starting my business, I was working full-time at a hospital that treated individuals with eating disorders and was continuously noticing aspects of the job that were not in alignment with my values as a therapist. I have always been passionate about holistic health and wanted to incorporate various types of support to my clients and community; I felt limited in what I was allowed to discuss and how I was able to practice in my position. All of that, mixed with COVID, and having my first child created the perfect storm to push me to take a leap of faith and begin my private practice.

I had a clear vision of how I wanted to work with clients in the long-term, but it took some effort to focus on first steps and remember that I had to build a solid foundation first. I spent time researching what it took to start a business in Colorado to make sure I got al the logistics covered. From there, I utilized many visual practices to create my ideal client audience and general treatment structure as my own boss. The hardest part for me was sticking to my ideals and boundaries in the beginning. Even though I knew what type of work I wanted to do, and who I wanted to work with, I was more focused on taking any client I could get in the early stages and completely bypassed my own desires. When I look back, I wish I would have had more faith in myself to attract the right people at the right time instead of operating out of a scarcity mindset

My biggest advice to anyone considering starting their own practice would be to trust yourself, ask for help, and honor your boundaries. It’s so easy to get caught up in the fear of the unknown and do what you feel you “should” do instead of what you want to do in the early stages of a business. Create a clear vision of what you want, identify the steps that go into that, and do not stray unless absolutely necessary. If you are acting out of an authentic space, you will find the right audience and pathway to make your business successful.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started my journey on a traditional counseling path via my Master’s program at Illinois State University; however, I have always been passionate about holistic health and knew I wanted to one day weave therapy with other powerful modalities. I now get to hold space for others via therapy, breathwork, reiki, and community events and am SO grateful to be where I am at today in my practice.

My goal is to help humans heal, grow, and implement the changes they want to see in their lives. I think what sets my approach apart from others is the true integration of the science of psychology with the more “woo woo” practices like breathwork, reiki, yoga, sound healing, etc. I have always seen the value of both sides and want to support others who feel the same way, or have been only expose to one approach but have been curious about the other. I have definitely had many individuals try breathwork or reiki for the first time with me since our initial connection was more on the therapy side. This is part of what lights me up because it allows them to expand their own understanding of what their healing or growth journey can look like! I want people to stop limiting themselves on what they try or are open to and really allow themselves to experience all this beautiful world has to offer in terms of improving their general well-being.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I would say the most important component of being successful, outside of training/skill, is authenticity. Once I gained the confidence to show up as the practitioner I have always been internally, but was afraid to show externally, my practice became much more effective. I believe we are all given different gifts in this life- if we can embrace what we have, rather than comparing ourselves to everyone else, we can all succeed in our own way. I stopped silencing myself or presenting in the ways I thought I “should,” and really stepped into my authentic power as a therapist and practitioner after about 6 months in private practice. I started attracting my ideal clients and had a never ending waitlist. Show up in your own way and you’ll find the people you were meant to support!

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

There’s absolutely no doubt that I would choose the same profession as a therapist. I think if anything, I wish I would have focused more on somatic practices earlier on and wish I completed my EMDR training right away. I also wish I wouldn’t have doubted my desire to expand into less traditional methods and dove into breathwork and reiki when it first popped up for me. I let some of the expectations of past jobs, as well as the influence of more “traditional” therapy, get in the way of me following my own path for a while.

Ultimately, I am very grateful that I felt called to this work and feel very aligned with the different populations I work with. I specialize in working with eating disorders, and supporting those who struggle with disordered eating is a true passion of mine that hits close to home; I struggled with my own eating disorder throughout late high school and all of college. Being able to now guide others in their own healing journey around this is incredibly rewarding, and I feel so lucky every day to be apart of my clients’ processes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.holisticmountainhealing.org
• Instagram: @HolisticMountainHealing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Holistic-Mountain-Healing/100090569611638/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-davis-lpc-7843b583/