Meet Allison Anderson | Licensed Professional Counselor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allison Anderson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Allison, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was actually born and raised in Burleson, just about 15 minute from downtown Fort Worth. I have 2 sisters and my parents just recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. I am very blessed to have a wonderful, tight-knit family, but we have definitely had our flare of struggles just like any family. No matter what one of us was going through, my parents instilled in us that “family is everything” and we are all always each other’s biggest cheerleaders, which I think directly correlates to how close we are now as adults.

I grew up playing basketball and was fortunate enough to be on a very talented travel team that many, many hours and many years playing for. Through my school coaches, travel team coach, and parents, I was taught discipline, work, and the importance of having confidence in what you do. I was surrounded by teammates that took athletics very seriously and those types of values bled into almost everything I did. I always pushed myself in academics, athletics, and in everything else I did… the typical Type-A, overachieving perfectionist.

I used to think that was always going to be a good thing until I developed a pretty serious eating disorder in middle school. For the first time in my life I was struggling with self-esteem, confidence, depression, and horrible body image. I continued struggling all through high school and that drastic shift in my mindset set me up for other issues those next 4 years.

I ended up getting a basketball scholarship, which was my dream from about age 5, but then ended up getting medically redshirted due to the severity of my eating disorder. I was crushed and felt defeated, but instead of crumbling, I was honest with my family, asked for help, and spent the next 60 days at an intensive inpatient facility in Arizona.

I am happy to say that I am now 10 years in recovery and I firmly believe that I am only alive today because of my family support, my willingness to own my vulnerabilities, working with countless therapists, and I’m sure a high dose anti-depressant didn’t hurt.

Who I am today is a direct product of all of my successes, struggles, failures, and wins, and I wouldn’t take back anything. I am still a flawed perfectionist that’s overly competitive and struggles with depression/anxiety, but my perception of myself is drastically different.

Instead of hating my body, I love it because it helped me grow my 3 beautiful children.
Instead of trying to fake being perfect, I’ve accepted that I never will be, and actually think that would make life awfully boring.

I want to help clients and others learn to love themselves and to embrace all of it- the ups and the downs. Life can be pretty amazing and I think our world just needs more people who accept themselves and others with love instead of judgement or hate.

What should our readers know about your business?
I own a local psychotherapy private practice located in the River District of Fort Worth. Most of my career has been working with those with addictions, eating disorders, depression, anxiety and women’s issues. I really love working with complex clients with co-occurring issues. As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, I have always known I would end up owning my own practice. The journey to get here took longer than expected, but having 3 small children fairly close together, my desire to be a SAHM for a bit with each of them, and my husbands career were more of a priority at that time in my life. Life happens and sometimes you have to just yell “plot twist!” and embrace the changes. I believe God works all things out for good and comparing my life 10 years ago to now is solid proof of that.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I was born and raised in the area, so I think I have a pretty good feel for fun things to do! For a date night, my husband and I love 38 and Vine, followed by yummy sushi/hand-roll dinner at Hatsuyuki. When it isn’t 100 outside, Joe T Garcias has the best margaritas and ambiance around! (It’s actually where my husband and I had our first date back in 2007!) The view from Attico is amazing and they have delicious appetizers and drinks. My 3 small kids love going to Cidercade to play games when it’s hot out and the Clearfork Farmer’s Market is a really fun place to take some free group exercise, shop local produce and goods, and ride bikes along the Trinity River!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate this to my amazingly supportive husband who has backed me in everything I do for the last 16 years, my 3 children for being who they are and always loving me, and my family for always being there for the ups and downs.

Website: www.flourishhealthwellness.org

Instagram: @flourish.health.and.wellness