We were lucky to catch up with Alison Sheesley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alison, thanks for joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

I can think of two defining moments from my career so far. From my perspective, my career has been mostly a series of serendipitous accidents! I lived in New Orleans during college and was looking for a student job in the fall of my Senior year. I was walking by this adorable little coffee shop in an old Victorian house when I suddenly decided to ask if they were hiring. They were, and it changed the course of my life! Here is why… one of the other baristas was an improv comedian, and he got me hooked on improv comedy. There was this little black box improv comedy theater that opened up after Hurricane Katrina on Freret Street, and I spent so many hours there with friends over the next several years. Later when I was completing my Master’s in Counseling, I immediately recognized how similar the practices of improv comedy, play therapy, and group therapy are. The little serendipity of working at that particular coffee shop was the beginning of my private practice called Comedy Is Therapy. The pandemic was also another defining moment for my career, because I was forced to take a step back from the more research-focused trajectory I was on at the time. I was pregnant in January of 2020, and I also had a toddler in preschool. I was especially terrified of catching COVID while pregnant, so I decided to leave my position to stay home with our toddler. While home, I thought deeply about my life purpose, and I recognized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life supporting struggling children and parents. Raising two very young children in the midst of the pandemic gave me so much compassion for the challenges and rewards of parenting in modern America. I never want any parent to feel isolated when they are struggling with their child’s most difficult behaviors. Now, as the Director of the Regis Center for Play Therapy, I remain extremely committed to this purpose.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Registered Play Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, and I also have my PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision. I am very passionate about training excellent play therapists.

Every year, the Regis Center for Play Therapy provides low-cost to entirely free child-centered play therapy for children ages 3-12 with a wide variety of concerns, including behavioral issues at school, anxiety, and trauma. Beginning in 2026, sessions will begin in January and run through July at our clinic in Thornton. Click “Schedule My Appointment” to sign up: https://www.regis.edu/about/regis-in-the-community/center-for-counseling-family-therapy/index
You will need to commit to bringing your child from January to July though so that they can receive a full course of play therapy.

Comedy Is Therapy is my private practice where we provide improv comedy-based group therapy to adults struggling with social anxiety, self-criticism, and perfectionism. Shelsea Ochoa is the amazing clinician who runs these groups, and she is an incredible improviser and therapist.

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

I think that my own experience as a mother has been critical to building my reputation as a play therapist. I truly understand how difficult it is to raise resilient and healthy children because I am also in the process of doing it. I am a very transparent person who is open to sharing my own struggles along this journey. I just don’t want any of the parents I work with to feel alone! I think this has translated to building strong bonds with the parents I work with.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

If I could go back, I would absolutely still this choose this path. I do think that working with children is a calling, and most therapists who work with children are truly meant to do this work. I am not sure I could do anything else at this point. I feel so fully in my element when I am in my playroom. Working with children lets me be a translator and an investigator, and it keeps me fully engaged and on my toes, because children are always so wonderfully spontaneous. When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and now I get to pretend to be Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle in real life. I am very grateful to have found a career path that so aligns so much with my personality, life experience, and skills.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.comedyistherapy.com
• Other: TikTok @comedyistherapy.com

Image Credits

Self