We were lucky to catch up with Alexia Holovatyk recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alexia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)?

I arrived at my internship excited and nervous. A one-year clinical internship that can be anywhere in the country is one of the requirements for completion of a clinical psychology doctoral program. Being plucked out of my comfort zone and transitioned to a new setting can feel overwhelming and foreign, especially to someone like me who values routine and consistency.

I quickly discovered that this new setting had a very different way of doing things than my last training setting. It became clear to me over time that I was being treated differently than the other interns by one supervisor, which at the time, had significant implications moving forward in my career. I felt lost, panicked, and helpless. Was all the work I did up until this point in vain?

Finally, I took the risk to open up about what was happening to me. It seemed that my old strategy of “just try harder and make no mistakes” wasn’t working. My fear was that people would think I was the problem since I was new, and she had been working with these people for years. Here’s what I eventually did and wish I would’ve done sooner:

1. FIND ALLIES WITHIN YOUR WORK ORGANIZATION-I found some allies in the program who could validate that what I was going through was real and provide guidance (peers and supervisors). I found a mentor who created a plan with me to set up clear, objective criteria with my supervisor so she couldn’t “ding” me on anything based on subjective measures.
2. CONNECT WITH SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTSIDE OF WORK- I connected with my old supervisors, mentors, and friends who knew me well who could validate that what I was going through was not right and not a reflection on me. It helped to ground me and keep me sane. If I had been a first year student instead of a 5th year student, I may have dropped out altogether for fear that I was not good at this. Luckily, I could draw on a lot of evidence from past clients and supervisors to give me enough confidence to believe I WAS meant to do this work.
3. DOCUMENT- I began documenting every negative encounter I had with my supervisor in case anything ever escalated. I kept a log in a word document on my computer with dates and other people who witnessed or were involved.
4. TRUST YOUR GUT- If you feel you are being bullied / discriminated against at work trust your gut. Some things that qualify as workplace bullying include:
   • Verbal abuse
   • Exclusion
   • Constant criticism
   • Micromanagement
   • Unfair assignments (impossible to complete or outside of your job description)
   • Inconsistent treatment or treatment that is different than your colleagues

This was one of the most challenging situations I ever had to go through professionally. My hope is that if you ever experience workplace bullying, you know how to identify it, have tools to cope with it, and know deep in your soul that you don’t deserve it. Everyone makes mistakes AND everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity.

Alexia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a clinical health psychologist, meditation instructor, and I’m also certified to teach yoga (I don’t currently teach, but this training heavily influences the way I show up as a therapist!). In my practice that I founded, Live Well Psychology Group, I focus on helping women heal from trauma, grief, and anxiety and grow in relationships (with themselves and others). I use a somatic, mind body, approach in my work teaching women to heal their nervous systems.

My latest project has been to co-create an integrative, online course and community called The Self-Healing Toolkit and for women to heal from trauma and learn tools to cope and grow from stress by learning to navigate their nervous systems. I started this project alongside Sammie Mancine, a holistic nutritionist, and Alice Toyonaga, a yoga teacher and healer. What drew us to work together was a mutual desire to make evidence-based, holistic remedies to heal body, mind, and spirit accessible to all women on a large scale. We believe that if women have the tools to heal themselves, our communities, and future generations will heal too.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I found my business partners very organically. When I first had the idea for The Self-Healing Toolkit, I knew I wanted to collaborate with people from other disciplines to really capture the mind-body approach. One day, I went to a Modo Yoga class and had the most AMAZING experience. Everything Alice, the yoga instructor, was saying was so spot on, and I thought, ‘this person really gets it.” I approached her after class and told her about my idea. She was so receptive and told me she had been thinking about ways she could work more within the mental health space. It was such a natural match right from the beginning.

Likewise, I had been following Sammie, a holistic nutritionist, on Instagram for a while. One day, a reel she made about gut health popped up on my feed, and another light bulb went off. She would absolutely be the perfect fit! So, I reached out to her, we got coffee, and the rest is history! Not every part of the process of making this online course has been smooth, but finding my co-founders was one of the easiest parts.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

This is definitely the most challenging part of maintaining a private practice or offering an online course. I use a multifaceted approach and haven’t found one “silver bullet.” I break my marketing approach down to “passive” and “active” strategies. I employ “active” strategies when I want an immediate boost in my caseload or to increase recognition of the course. This usually involves some kind of paid approach—Google, Meta ads, or paying to be part of a therapist directory.

The “passive” strategies I use take more effort, and while I see less immediate results, I’ve seen more long-term or serendipitous payoffs. This includes networking with colleagues, joining relevant Facebook groups, posting on social media, and writing blogs.

Contact Info:

• Website: livewellpsychologygroup.com
• Instagram: @dr.alexiah
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075777250853
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexia-holovatyk-8919453a
• Other: theselfhealingtoolkit.com

Image Credits
@lionelthundercloud