Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyson Lischer.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I always thought that I wanted to be a therapist. After graduating college, I started working in clinical outreach for a treatment center and started learning all about treatment and recovery. While in that role, I started my master’s degree and continued to just submerge myself in learning about eating disorders, trauma and addiction. I became increasingly interested in eating disorders due to the complexity of the disorders themselves but also because I began to realize how much diet culture and weight stigma impact our society and especially how women show up in the world. I wanted to work with people to help them recognize that they deserve to show up and be seen in this world and that we should stop perpetuating harm to our bodies by believing we should shrink them down to be valuable. Today, I am working in private practice specializing in eating disorders and women’s issues focused on helping client’s heal their relationship with their body and food and empowering them to show up in the world authentically.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My road has been fairly smooth. As a white, straight, cisgender woman, I realize that I have a lot of privilege and the road has probably been more smooth for me than most.
I have had to do my own work along the way and really explore how I have bought into diet culture and weight stigma. I believe I continually have to reflect and be vulnerable to acknowledge my own biases and judgments that may come up and can be harmful to others. Throughout my process, I feel like it has only brought good to my life and enabled so much healing with my own relationship with my body.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am currently in private practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist. My practice specializes in the treatment of eating disorders and women’s mental health. I provide individual, couples and family therapy to adolescents and adults. I often work with adolescents and their families. I think one thing that sets me apart from others is that I really believe that the family can be the catalyst for healing. Too often, families feel like they are identified as the problem and I really want families to feel empowered as part of the solution. We heal in connection with others and not in isolation. Therefore, family should be invited into part of the treatment process.
I am most proud to create a space where people feel safe to feel vulnerable and can show up authentically. I also strive to create a space that we can question the societal norms of how we are expected to show up and be able to work to a place of self-love and acceptance.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck has played a big role in my life. I feel like I was really fortunate to get my first job in the treatment industry which provided me with so much opportunity and access to education, professional connections and an income that allowed me to support myself while I went to school and pursued my long-term goals. I feel that I have had to work hard but I cannot discount that I have been very fortunate to end up in the positions that I have been in which have provided me with such a great foundation and I am so grateful for all the opportunities that have presented themselves to me. I feel like I have had to work hard in my various roles but the opportunities have really presented themselves to me which I have to account a lot of that to luck. Taking the leap into private practice was definitely the most vulnerable step that I have taken and even with that I feel incredibly lucky that people have sought my care and professionals entrust me with their referrals. Yes, I contribute to that in building and caring for relationships, taking responsibility for ongoing education and putting effort into building my practice but I also feel luck cannot be discounted.
Pricing:
- $180 For Individual Sessions
- $220 For Family/Couples Sessions
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alysonlischer.com
- Instagram: @alylischertherapy
Image Credits
Photographer: Merrill Melideos (Headshot Denim Jacket) Photographer: Rebecca Thatcher (Bottom photo in Blue Blazer)
