Author: alysahaas

I’m thrilled to announce I opened my psychotherapy private practice as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate (LMHCA) in October 2025. And now with the start of 2026, I’m growing my practice and taking new clients for weekday morning appointments online. Feel free to share my website as a therapist referral!

Since graduating in May with a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Antioch University, I’ve been learning a lot about how to set up a clinical practice (Who knew a license could take four months to process?!). And now I’m so excited to finally be able to offer my therapy services and live the dream job I’ve had for so many years.

I’m currently seeking clients who are:

• Adults ages 18 and above
• Individuals (I’m not currently taking new couples for couples counseling)
• Residents of Washington State
• Experiencing a life change, grief, social or relationship challenges, family or parenting challenges, anxiety, depression, anger, or just feeling like something’s not quite right and want some help
• Open to online therapy only
• Able to pay out of pocket (I’m not currently paneled with any health insurance companies) – Click here for more fee info

I specialize in using Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy to help clients heal emotional wounds from the past that are triggered by current stressors. The IFS framework is a trauma-informed therapy that helps clients identify and process different parts of themselves that hold old burdens so they can get unstuck in their present-day lives. I love using IFS as an approach because it uses the client’s inherent wisdom to guide the process, so it’s both empowering and incredibly transformative.

Check out this video of me doing IFS therapy with a sample client.

I first got to know IFS as a therapy client myself back in 2014, and since then I’ve seen it transform my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined possible. Then in 2022, I completed the IFS Level 1 training through the IFS Institute while in grad school. I was able to put those skills to use during my clinical internship, where I was supervised by a certified IFS therapist, Shellie Gravitt. By practicing this modality consistently through my year and a half of internship, I fine-tuned my ability to use IFS effectively for people going through all kinds of experiences, from relationship challenges to suicidal thinking to anger and anxiety.

Now, I’m chomping at the bit to do more of this work I love so much! If you have clients in need of a compassionate, down-to-earth therapist with skills that get results, send them my way! I’m ready to guide clients through the work of healing to find peace within themselves…and maybe laugh a little along the way.

And on that note, I want to share one more video with you by way of introducing myself as a newly-minted therapist. Because this is how excited I am!

Just a quick reminder that the final 4-week series of Authentic Movement Workshops for this season is starting Sunday!

• Beginners welcome!
• NEW PAYMENT OPTION: New person drop-ins ~ If it’s your first time, feel free to register for just one afternoon, to try it out. If you like the experience and want to come back, you’re invited to register for the rest of the series. We want to give newcomers an easy welcome, while at the same time creating a consistent container for group work.

Spring 2025 Authentic Movement Workshop

• Series of 4 Sundays, 3:30 – 5:30pm
• Mar. 30, Apr. 6, Apr. 13, Apr. 20
• American Dance Institute Wedgwood – 7500 25th Ave NE, Seattle

REGISTER:

• $25 for new-person drop-in (one afternoon)
• $100 for the 4-week series
• send payment through Venmo @Alysa-Haas 
• fill out the registration form

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:

Feeling disconnected from your body? Come find out what it has to say! Using a mix of meditation, movement improvisation, guided discussion, and humor, I’ll facilitate an Authentic Movement session that’s suited to every body – dance/movement experience not required!



Authentic Movement is a guided movement meditation that helps you listen to impulses in your body that often go ignored. By practicing this kind of deep body awareness through movement, you can access a well of information about your emotional needs that lies just below the surface of your everyday cognition, releasing stuck emotions and discovering new insights about yourself. We will compassionately witness each other as this process of discovery unfolds. You can read more about Authentic Movement here.


• move at your own pace/ability

• no partnered movement
(touch)
• safe emotional and physical space facilitated by experienced movement instructor and mental health therapist

Questions? Email Alysa at alysadhaas@gmail.com 

FACILITATOR BIO:

Alysa Haas is a mental health therapist and experienced movement instructor. She has a BFA in Modern Dance and is a graduate student intern earning an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. You can learn more about Alysa at alysadhaas.com.

I was looking through my favorited songs on Spotify to create a playlist for Authentic Movement Workshops, and I came across this one from The Bengsons. At the very beginning of the pandemic they had shared this song on YouTube, The Keep Going Song. Looking back, it captures that feeling I remember: Wait, what?! What do you mean, I don’t have any control?!? What the fuck?? What am I going to do?

As a white, multi-privileged person, I had never felt anything like that before in my life. And, as a dear friend was reminding me recently, it was that new feeling of helplessness that eventually transformed my insides so that I started really seeing the struggles of people who had experienced oppression all along. Experiencing helplessness woke many of us up.

And now here we are in 2025. The helplessness is back, for those of us who experienced a break from it. And once again, we are going to Keep Going. We’re going to struggle, we’re going to not be in control…we’re going to be transformed, whether we want to or not. And there’s no way to know what that’s going to look like.

It’s scary shit, to not know. That’s why we do it together. As I’ve written before, coming together in community is what wise women of color tell us is the answer to struggle. In community, helpless becomes helped, alone becomes seen, lost becomes transformed. For me, that is exactly what Authentic Movement is about. Going into the depths, not alone. Uncovering emotional caverns while holding the lanterns of social support and empathy. This is where the crisis of helplessness undergoes metamorphosis, and jewels are formed.

I would love for you to join me on this expedition, in the next series of Authentic Movement Workshops. Newcomers are very welcome!

March 2025 Authentic Movement Workshop

• Series of 4 Sundays, 3:30 – 5:30pm
• Feb. 23, Mar. 2, Mar. 9, Mar. 16
• American Dance Institute Wedgwood – 7500 25th Ave NE, Seattle
  
  April 2025 Authentic Movement Workshop

• Series of 4 Sundays, 3:30 – 5:30pm
• Mar. 30, Apr. 6, Apr. 13, Apr. 20
• American Dance Institute Wedgwood – 7500 25th Ave NE, Seattle

Feeling disconnected from your body? Come find out what it has to say! Using a mix of meditation, movement improvisation, guided discussion, and humor, I’ll facilitate an Authentic Movement session that’s suited to every body – dance/movement experience not required!



Authentic Movement is a guided movement meditation that helps you listen to impulses in your body that often go ignored. By practicing this kind of deep body awareness through movement, you can access a well of information about your emotional needs that lies just below the surface of your everyday cognition, releasing stuck emotions and discovering new insights about yourself. We will compassionately witness each other as this process of discovery unfolds. You can read more about Authentic Movement here.


• move at your own pace/ability

• no partnered movement
(touch)
• safe emotional and physical space facilitated by experienced movement instructor and mental health therapist

Questions? Email Alysa at alysadhaas@gmail.com 

REGISTER:

• $100 for each 4-week series
• send payment through Venmo @Alysa-Haas 
• fill out the registration form

Facilitator Bio: Alysa Haas is a mental health therapist and experienced movement instructor. She has a BFA in Modern Dance and is a graduate student intern earning an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. You can learn more about Alysa at alysadhaas.com.

As we embark on this new year, I’ve been asking myself what I need. Taking in the challenges that surround me, personally, politically, ecologically, I keep thinking about what adrienne maree brown says about community as the way through crisis:

“The only way we’ll be ready [to face crises] is if we have good practice under our belts of being with each other in better ways. So, I’m focusing my attention on how we are with each other and how quickly we can form community with each other, how quickly we can fall in love with each other.”

It’s a yearning for this kind of community love that fueled me to offer another authentic movement workshop. When things look dark, I want to come together, see each other authentically, and, in that seeing, form light. Find a way forward, together.

I’d love for you to join me, as we move our bodies and listen to what they’re trying to tell us about what we need and where to go next.

Authentic Movement Workshop

• Series of 4 Sundays, 3:30 – 5:30pm
• Jan. 26, Feb. 2, Feb. 9, Feb. 16
• American Dance Institute Wedgwood

Feeling disconnected from your body? Come find out what it has to say! Using a mix of meditation, movement improvisation, guided discussion, and humor, I’ll facilitate an Authentic Movement session that’s suited to every body – dance/movement experience not required!



Authentic Movement is a guided movement meditation that helps you listen to impulses in your body that often go ignored. By practicing this kind of deep body awareness through movement, you can access a well of information about your emotional needs that lies just below the surface of your everyday cognition, releasing stuck emotions and discovering new insights about yourself. We will compassionately witness each other as this process of discovery unfolds. You can read more about Authentic Movement here.


• move at your own pace/ability

• no partnered movement
(touch)
• safe emotional and physical space facilitated by experienced movement instructor and mental health therapist

Questions? Email Alysa at alysadhaas@gmail.com 

$100 for 4-week series. Register by paying through Venmo @Alysa-Haas 

Facilitator Bio: Alysa Haas is a mental health therapist and experienced movement instructor. She has a BFA in Modern Dance and is a graduate student intern earning an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. You can learn more about Alysa at alysadhaas.com.

After a few years (and a pandemic!) I’m inviting you all to join me again for Authentic Movement: a new 4-week workshop starts January 26!

Authentic Movement Workshop

Feeling disconnected from your body? Come find out what it has to say! Using a mix of meditation, movement improvisation, guided discussion, and humor, I’ll facilitate an Authentic Movement session that’s suited to every body – dance/movement experience not required!



• Series of 4 Sundays, 3:30 – 5:30pm
• Jan. 26, Feb. 2, Feb. 9, Feb. 16
• American Dance Institute Wedgwood

Authentic Movement is a guided movement meditation that helps you listen to impulses in your body that often go ignored. By practicing this kind of deep body awareness through movement, you can access a well of information about your emotional needs that lies just below the surface of your everyday cognition, releasing stuck emotions and discovering new insights about yourself. We will compassionately witness each other as this process of discovery unfolds. You can read more about Authentic Movement here.


• move at your own pace/ability

• no partnered movement
(touch)
• safe emotional and physical space facilitated by experienced movement instructor and mental health therapist

Questions? Email Alysa at alysadhaas@gmail.com 

$100 for 4-week series. Register by paying through Venmo @Alysa-Haas 

Facilitator Bio: Alysa Haas is a mental health therapist and experienced movement instructor. She has a BFA in Modern Dance and is a graduate student intern earning an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. You can learn more about Alysa at alysadhaas.com.

In 2022, I completed a year-long training in Internal Family Systems (IFS), a practice I’ve long felt passionate about. It has been life changing, for me and for so many people around the world! Now, as a Level 1 Trained IFS Practitioner, I’m able to offer IFS Coaching to my own clients. To learn more about what IFS is, check out my IFS Coaching page.

The IFS approach to coaching and therapy is gaining momentum and popularity (some may even say it’s having “a moment”). My hope is that it’s having more than a moment, but that it’s in fact leading us in the beginning of a paradigm shift in psychology, self-growth, and even the future of our communities and world. I describe it as turning empathy inward, which then reflects empathy outward to everyone in your life. So it can be a huge shift for those of us operating in an individualistic and perfectionistic society.

People who know me have heard me talk about IFS a lot. But often I feel like I can’t describe it in words alone. And I want everyone to know about IFS! So, I recently got together with a colleague of mine to film a sample IFS session, so that people can see what IFS actually looks like in action.

What is Internal Family Systems (IFS)? Full IFS Session With a New Client

This 50-minute video shows a full IFS Coaching session with me and a new client. Clients new to IFS often take some time to experience the confusion and discomfort of shifting from a paradigm of singular self to a sense of multiple aspects or ‘parts’ of themselves. I use IFS Coaching skills to guide the client through this challenging process.

What Is ‘Unblending’ in IFS? Highlights from an Internal Family Systems Session

In this 20-minute video, I use clips from the full session to show highlights of the IFS Coaching process. I focus attention on the ‘unblending’ the client is able to do. Unblending is an important part of the IFS process, in which the individual becomes aware that a mental state they are experiencing is not all of themself, but rather is just one ‘part’ of them who may need some support.

My hope is that you get a chance to watch these, and then share them with others! I want everyone to know what IFS looks like, to demystify what can sound like sort of a strange practice – and to start changing the world by spreading the word. Check out IFS in action!

https://www.meetup.com/Authentic-Movement-Bunch/events/dgkfbryzmbkb/

• Sunday, May 5, 2019
• 12:30 – 2:30pm
• Exit Space School of Dance, 414 NE 72nd St, Seattle, WA 98115

Feeling disconnected from your body? Come find out what it has to say! Using a mix of meditation, movement improvisation, guided discussion, and humor, I’ll facilitate an authentic movement session that’s suited to every body – dance/movement experience not required!

Authentic Movement is a guided movement meditation that lets you experience the impulses in your body that society very often asks us to squelch. Come let it out, and be weird together in this safe space! 😀 Here’s info on the history of Authentic Movement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authentic_Movement

– move at your own pace/ability
– no partnered movement
– you choose if you want to be seen by others, or not
– safe emotional and physical space facilitated by experienced instructor

$10 – cash, check, or Venmo/Paypal/Cash/etc. to me day-of

Reserve your spot by responding to this Facebook event (guest list is not public). Or contact me directly: https://alysadhaas.com/contact

Hey every Body!! Come move with me!

Authentic Movement is a structure for movement improvisation that follows your body’s impulse, instead of the mind’s. It’s a practice that comes out of movement therapy but can also be done as an expressive art.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authentic_Movement

***No movement/dance experience necessary – First time movers encouraged!***

Intro to Authentic Movement
Sunday, December 2
1-3pm
At eXit SPACE School of Dance, 414 NE 72nd St, Seattle, Washington 98115
Facilitated by Alysa Haas

In this intro, I’ll guide the group through one version of an authentic movement improvisation structure. We will be going SLOW. And I’ll be holding space for all the feels and curiosities to be safe. We will not include partnered moving in this session, but we may break into pairs or groups to “witness” (observe with respect) each other’s movement, for those who choose to be observed. Authentic movement can be an emotional, transformative, or challenging experience, so be prepared to take space for yourself to re-ground afterward if you need. Again, I am very committed to creating a safe, careful space to hold these experiences and will do my best to bring us all down to the ground at the end of the session.

My intention for this session is to share authentic movement concepts with you all, because it is so dear to me! After the session, I’ll check in with folks to see who might be interested in an ongoing class and/or an ongoing group-run practice. But this session requires no commitment! Just come and check it out if your body is feeling in need of some expression.

Please bring $10 cash or check to contribute toward the $50 space rental. (If we get more than 5 people, then we’ll even it out somehow.)

P.S. If you’ve heard me talk about “body collage,” authentic movement is a building block for that. 🙂

LOOKING FORWARD TO MOVING WITH YOU!

***PLEASE SIGN UP TO ATTEND THROUGH THE FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE, OR BY CONTACTING ME HERE.***

I’m excited to announce registration is open for a new class I’m offering this Spring – Career Exploration for Teenagers! You can find all the details on the career classes page of the site: https://alysadhaas.com/career-classes/

Feel free to let teens and parents in your life know about this experience. And as always, send any questions my way: https://alysadhaas.com/contact/.

~ Alysa