We were lucky to catch up with Leila-Scott Price recently and have shared our conversation below.
Leila-Scott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
The biggest risk I’ve taken has been investing everything I have—every form of resource you can imagine—into answering a call to create a healing space in Houston where people could reconnect with themselves in mind, body, and spirit. That call first came to me in 2001, and I officially began building toward it in 2012 when I completed my Master’s in Chinese Medicine and became a licensed acupuncturist. At the same time, my husband was a psychotherapist pursuing his PhD in Jungian Studies, so it felt only natural that we would join forces and begin a true Mind + Body endeavor together.
Our team grew gradually at first, beginning around my maternity leave in 2016, and then expanded significantly during the COVID shutdown. When the world opened back up, we realized we had outgrown our original office and that it was time to take a much larger leap—into the full expression of our dream and what we now call the healing trilogy of Mind + Body + Spirit.
In the summer of 2023, we moved and expanded into a historic home in Montrose. For the first time, we had space not only for individual care, but also for classes, workshops, events, and a wide range of healing modalities. What makes this work especially meaningful is how deeply integrated our team is. We don’t simply work alongside one another—we teach each other, consult with one another, and collaborate in the care of every patient and client so that each person receives the most thoughtful, comprehensive support possible.
The true risk lies in the fact that there is no real business template for this kind of heart-led, multidisciplinary healing work and there are very few business coaches out there who understand the delicate nature of running an organization devoted to therapeutic care. We are not working with widgets…we are working with human hearts. And that matters profoundly to us.
Walking a road with no clear map has been frightening at times, but it has also been deeply purposeful. We are still here, still growing, and still called to serve Houstonians who are ready to weave back together the frayed parts of themselves or tend to what aches—whether that pain shows up in the heart, the body, the spirit, or all three at once. It is our calling to be prepared for every presentation of suffering and to walk alongside our patients and clients as they heal.
Leila-Scott, 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?
What we provide at The Center for Healing Arts & Sciences is truly integrative, whole-person care that treats the human being—not just the symptom. Under one roof, we offer acupuncture, psychotherapy, coaching for parents & teens, yoga therapy, nutrition, naturopathy, massage, group therapy, creative healing, youth programs, Human Design analysis, astrology, workshops, retreats, and community classes. But what makes our work different is not simply the range of services—<b>it’s the way they are woven together into a cohesive, collaborative healing experience.</b>
Many of our clients come to us feeling fragmented. They may be functioning on the outside, yet struggling with chronic pain, anxiety, trauma, burnout, digestive issues, hormonal imbalance, grief, or a quiet but persistent sense of disconnection from themselves. Often they have tried multiple providers in isolation and still feel like something essential is missing. The problem we solve is this fragmentation. We address healing at its root—across the mind, body, and spirit simultaneously—because true healing rarely lives in just one of those realms.
What sets The Center apart is our deeply integrated, team-based model of care. Our practitioners actively collaborate, consult, and learn from one another so that each client benefits from a broader, more nuanced understanding of their needs. We are trauma-informed, nervous-system-aware, and relationship-centered in our approach. Care here is not rushed, formulaic, or reduced to a diagnosis—it is personalized, embodied, and deeply human.
We are not a volume-driven clinic. We intentionally prioritize depth over speed, presence over production, and relationship over transactions. That means our clients are seen, heard, and held with a level of attentiveness that is rare in modern healthcare settings. Healing at The Center is not about “fixing” what is broken—it is about reconnecting people with their innate capacity to heal and regulate themselves.
What I am most proud of is the culture of integrity, collaboration, and heart that lives within our team. Our practitioners are not only highly trained—they are people who are deeply committed to their own inner work, self-awareness, and continual growth. That commitment creates a powerful container of safety and trust for those who come to us in vulnerable moments of their lives. I am also proud that we have remained values-driven while growing, choosing to build a sustainable healing community rather than chasing trends or purely profit-based models.
What I most want potential clients and community members to know is this:
The Center for Healing Arts & Sciences is a place for people who are ready to feel again, to come home to themselves, and to be supported with both clinical skill and deep compassion. Whether someone is seeking relief from physical pain, emotional suffering, trauma, life transitions, stress, or a loss of meaning, we meet them with care that honors the full complexity of who they are.
We believe healing is not a quick fix—it is a relationship with the self that unfolds over time. And our work is to walk beside people as they tend that relationship with courage, honesty, and support.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Beyond skill and training, what has mattered most in my own success is leading with the heart. I have never been interested in building a business that is technically proficient but emotionally empty. A practice can follow every rule, check every box, and still lack the very soul that makes healing possible. For me, heart is not a soft add-on—it is the foundation.
In caregiving especially, the heart connection is everything. It does not matter how advanced a physician’s or therapist’s training may be if they are disconnected from their own inner life. When a practitioner is cut off from their own feeling, presence, and humility, the depth of healing they can facilitate is naturally limited. Real transformation requires relational safety, emotional attunement, and genuine human presence—not just expertise.
Skill opens the door, but heart determines how far a person is truly willing—and able—to walk through it. And, what I’ve learned is that knowledge may build credibility, but heart builds trust.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I am not someone who is afraid of change. If anything, I am far more afraid of stagnation than of uncertainty. Life has asked me to pivot more than once, and each time I have learned that growth rarely arrives without some form of letting go – and challenge.
One of the most unexpected pivots came about two years ago, when I began to feel a quiet but persistent knowing that I needed to see fewer one-on-one patients in order to reach people in a different, broader way. On the surface, it made very little practical sense. I loved my patients. My schedule was full. And stepping back from direct care felt both risky and emotionally wrenching.
Telling my patients was one of the hardest professional conversations I have ever had. Yet, to my surprise and deep humility, every single one of them met the news with understanding, encouragement, and genuine support. It was a powerful reminder that when relationships are built on trust, people don’t feel abandoned by evolution—they honor it.
The truth is, I had asked my own heart for guidance, just as I so often ask my patients to do. And the answer was clear: this pivot was necessary. The uncomfortable part was not knowing how it would unfold, only that ignoring that inner directive would slowly hollow me out. I could not, in good conscience, teach people to listen to their hearts while refusing to listen to my own.
So I made the shift—not away from healing, but toward a new expression of it. That decision created the space for deeper community work, expanded programs, team leadership, and ultimately the next evolution of The Center itself. What felt like a contraction at the time became an expansion I could never have orchestrated through logic alone.
That pivot taught me that the heart is rarely loud, but it is always precise. And when we trust it, even at great personal cost, it tends to lead us exactly where we need to go.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thecenterforhas.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/centerforhas/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centerforhas
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-center-for-the-healing-arts-&-sciences
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@centerforhas
