A woman with short curly blond hair smiling, sitting indoors with a brown dog nearby. The woman is wearing a blue and white tie-dye shirt, and the dog has a black collar. The background includes a brown leather sofa, a beige cushion, potted plants, and a patterned rug.
A woman sitting at a table hugging a yellow Labrador Retriever mix dog on her lap, who is licking her face. Another dog, a brown and white one, is nearby. The woman is wearing a colorful striped scarf and has short blonde hair.

About Alex

Alex's journey as a natural healer traces back to her early childhood, where she exhibited a profound connection with animals. From feeding strays and rescuing cats and dogs to rehabilitating rescue horses, her compassionate spirit flourished. Throughout college and graduate school, this passion remained steadfast as she volunteered at shelters, trained her Great Pyrenees as a therapy dog, and visited hospice and nursing facilities.

A woman giving a dog-assisted head massage to another person lying face down on a table or mat, with a dog lying next to her. The scene takes place indoors in a room with certificates on the wall.

Alex continued to nurture her innate talent while living in rural Louisa, VA, where she fostered over 100 dogs and puppies, earning a reputation for attracting strays to her home as if by instinct.  Despite her initial aspiration to become a veterinarian, Alex's path shifted during undergrad when she witnessed firsthand the intersection of human behavior and animal welfare, leading her to discover her true calling in social work.

Immersing herself in systemic models, Alex adopted a grassroots approach, driven by a determination to help people and foster positive change in the world. Her career in social work commenced with aiding individuals experiencing housing crises, where she identified the complex factors contributing to housing instability, often entwined with issues like involvement in the child welfare system.

Motivated to continue supporting humans navigating complex systems, and desiring at this point in her career to support families, specifically, Alex transitioned into roles within foster care and child protective services. During her tenure in child welfare, a pivotal moment arose when she embarked on a 2-year fellowship at Riverbend Integrative Trauma Treatment, pursuing clinical licensure in social work and acquiring expertise in various therapeutic modalities such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), somatic interventions, play therapies, and parts work.

As was encouraged as part of the fellowship experience, Alex underwent a profound personal transformation, witnessing firsthand the potency of integrated therapeutic approaches in healing. Driven by a newfound commitment to empower others on their healing journeys, she founded James River Healing & Wholeness in Richmond, VA, in May 2022. Here, Alex devotes herself to sharing the transformative power of health, healing, and wholeness with her community.

meet our therapists:

Three dogs sitting outdoors on grass with cars and trees in the background, one dog looking upward, one looking at the upward dog, and one looking to the side, all on leashes.
A dog lying on a small gray armchair, resting with its head on one paw. The chair is in front of a plain wall with a tall floor lamp behind it. A blue checkered cloth is draped over one arm of the chair.

Samuel Jackson “Sam”

Close-up of a fluffy, cream-colored dog with a visible nose, holding a piece of food near its mouth, indoors with beige curtains in the background. In the background, to the right, there is a brown and white Siberian Husky with striking blue eyes, wearing a red collar.
A brown and white Siberian Husky dog sitting on the sidewalk in front of a colorful brick wall with red, blue, and green paint.

Mrs. Moseph “Mo”

Benjamin “B”