The Story of Emotion Alchemy Collective

Emotion Alchemy Collective was born from my deep desire to bring together the best of two worlds: ancient wisdom healing practices and evidence-based therapy. For me, it has always been about honoring both science and spirit, about creating a space where people can show up fully as themselves and find the support they need for transformation and healing.

My First Encounter with Healing

My own path started in an unexpected way. As a university student, I was studying mechanical engineering—a field that engaged my analytical mind but left my body and spirit depleted. I was struggling with insomnia, a stomach ulcer, irritability, and impatience. It was during this time that I found yoga. At first, it was simply a class I took to feel better. But it quickly became so much more—a lifeline that helped me reconnect with myself and begin to heal.

After graduating, I entered the automotive industry in Detroit, a world that was stressful, harsh, and often unsafe. Misogyny, unhealthy relationships, and even violence were part of that environment. Yoga became my refuge. Over time, my practice deepened, and in 2005, I trained to become a yoga teacher. Teaching opened my heart even more—I became a prenatal yoga teacher and labor doula, and I fell in love with supporting people through pregnancy and postpartum. During those years, I lived a double life: engineer by day, doula and yoga teacher by night.

Eventually, the split between those two identities became too much to bear. I knew I needed a life that was aligned with my values and my calling, so I made the leap into social work.

Shifting Toward Healing Work

Pursuing my Master of Social Work felt like coming home. For the first time, I was in a field that valued advocacy, presence, empathy, and care. Still, I noticed something missing. There wasn’t space for yoga or other ancient practices in the therapy room. Practices that had supported people’s healing for thousands of years were seen as “unscientific” simply because they didn’t fit neatly into Western research frameworks. I began to see how this reflected the colonial roots of mental health care—where Western ideas were elevated and Indigenous and ancient practices were dismissed.

As the mindfulness movement grew, a door cracked open. I realized this might be a way to bring yoga and holistic practices into therapy, in a language the field could hear.

Research, Mindfulness, and New Ways Forward

Through a few serendipitous encounters, I found my way into research. I pursued a PhD in Clinical Social Work and Infant Mental Health, where I studied how yoga and mindfulness during pregnancy could benefit not only parents but also infants’ behavior and development. Alongside this, I trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), deepening my capacity to bring contemplative wisdom into therapy in grounded and practical ways. However, I also found there was a colonial structure that prevailed in these practices, as they are rooted in Buddhism, however made secular so all can appreciate them. Removing the essence from the teachings, although helpful to many people, still was removing spirituality from wellness.

Honoring the Earth, Honoring All Beings

Over the years, my healing journey has also drawn me more deeply into relationship with the natural world. I have trained as a psilocybin mushroom facilitator, learning how to hold space for expanded states of consciousness with reverence, safety, and care. Working with the medicines of the earth has reminded me that healing is not just about the individual—it is about our connection to the land, to plants, to each other, and to all beings. Our collective wellness depends on these relationships, and I bring this truth into my work every day.

The Birth of Emotion Alchemy Collective

Eventually, after 25 years of yoga study, research, and clinical practice, I felt ready to create the kind of practice I always longed for—a community where therapists could bring their whole selves to their work, blending ancient wisdom with evidence-based care. In 2024, that dream became Emotion Alchemy Collective located in Denver and Boulder, Colorado.

Here, we:

• Aim to decolonize the therapy room by honoring Indigenous and ancient practices, and honoring the effect of oppression, racism and colonialism on all people’s wellness.
• Engage in our own healing so that we can sit with others authentically.
• Support each other in community, lifting each other up instead of working in isolation.

Walking the Path Together

Today, Emotion Alchemy Collective is more than a therapy practice. It is a community devoted to healing, rooted in reverence for both the wisdom within each person and the wisdom all around us—in our ancestors, in the earth, and in the relationships that connect us all.

I am so grateful for the path that has led me here. It is my deepest honor to support others in listening to their inner wisdom, reclaiming their power, and allowing their own medicine to unfold.

With Love, Laurel