We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tracy Spiaggia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tracy below.

Alright, Tracy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

This concept of “idea to execution” is the epitome of my business in that every idea I’ve ever had about ways to support others in their mental and relational health journey first began with a challenging personal experience. The most effective and impactful helpers are those who have first gone through the fires that now lick their clients’ feet. The best teacher is ’cause and effect’ in our own lives. Most of what I offer to those I help are interventions, strategies, and insights that were most impactful in my journey. For example, I know firsthand that physical stewardship of the body puts us at a great advantage when attempting to relieve stress, depressed mood, and anxiety. When I was much younger and in the throes of life’s storms, it was obvious that I fared much worse when I didn’t get enough sleep or the nutrition my body needed to offer the resiliency required to healthily navigate the difficulty at hand. Another example would be tapping into the biochemistry of exercise to shift my state. At around 14y old, I fell head over heels in love with running. It instantly became a portal to accessing my higher self, for confronting the relational hardships in my life, for growing in my spiritual walk, and for gaining closure in mind and body around traumatic experiences. These are only a couple of examples of how I’ve gone from Idea, i.e., stewardship of my body for better mental health outcomes, to execution, i.e., educating and coaching clients on this often overlooked non-negotiable for achieving lasting relief from the oppressive emotions that accompany poor mental and relational health.

Tracy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I can’t remember a time during my young life when I enjoyed an inner peace that, in my opinion, every child is entitled to. I always struggled with depression and a lack of joy. Some of this I now know was due to childhood experiences, and some due to inherited nature and biochemistry. But, when we’re young, the only sense we can make of our inability to experience steady moods and positive outlooks is that there must be something inherently wrong with us, that we are broken or bad. Even just saying that out loud brings me such grief for all of us who struggle. I’ve always been on a quest to better understand myself, which led me straight to God from a very young age. For this reason, I have no regrets about my experience as a young girl. I wouldn’t change a thing, because it all pointed me to the one and only Answer to all of life’s questions. But, even after giving my life to Jesus, I still struggled with ups and downs. I found running at age 14 which flung open new doors to self-acceptance and healing. Physical rigor became as important to me as daily pursuing the LORD. This eventually led to a lifelong pursuit of education around ways to heal our emotions and relationships through taking excellent care of our bodies and souls. I’ve watched many people I love suffer in similar ways, even losing a dear friend to suicide in July of 2007. That was a major catalyst to learning as much as I could about the brain and mind. The more I learned, the more passionate I became about sharing it all with as many suffering people as possible. I believe it’s my God-given assignment, to encourage people to appreciate God’s perfect design of our bodies, to uncover ways they are living in opposition to His design, and to educate them on ways to heal. It’s also part of my calling to inspire Jesus’ followers to revere the holy institution of family the way God intended. There are no more important earthly relationships than those that exist within the family. Most often, mental health challenges have at least some, if not all, of their roots in damaging familial experiences. This, too, should be brought back to God’s design for relating to one another. If we all lived according to His word, we would alleviate so much human suffering. I realize this is a lofty standard, but we ought to still believe experiencing some of heaven here on earth is possible. That is what I strive to communicate through my coaching. Witnessing lives and families transformed this way is one of the most wonderful experiences. I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The role I fill as a professional in the mental health space is very unique to the majority. Therapists have been widely regarded as the go-to for a very long time, providing tremendously helpful services to those in crisis. I believe they can be indispensable. There exists a huge gap, though, when considering holistic care for those suffering from mental and relational challenges. To put it simply, no one will be able to “talk therapy” their way out of a biochemical issue. What has helped shape my professional reputation in this space, I believe, is my holistic approach to seeing and listening to the human being in front of me. I am fully present, completely reserving any judgment, and holding as much holy space for each client to share their story, no matter what that entails. We all need someone to whom we can unburden ourselves without fear of being criticized or having our trust violated. In addition, we all need help seeing our blind spots, not just in the way we create our narratives around life’s experiences, but also around the lifestyles we adopt. I believe we are living in a time like no other, a time when people desperately need a safe relationship to fall into while also being educated about the myriad ways we can support our bodies as we navigate healing from traumas of all kinds. The body holds onto unresolved emotional pain, but thank God there are strategies to gain closure so we can finally release the burdens that weigh us down.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients is by far recommendations. I don’t spend too much time online or actively marketing myself, at least not compared to most practitioners trying to build their businesses. I trust the healing experiences of my clients will do most of the talking for me. There is no higher compliment than to receive a call from someone saying they’ve been referred by a previous client. I pray this is always the case.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.slingshothc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slingshot_health_coaching
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• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/slingshothc