Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Schultz.
Hi Alyssa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I began my journey in mental health back in 2012 when my cousin died by suicide. I was gone at basic training for the army national guard at the time of his death. I wasn’t allowed to come home for his funeral due to him not being immediate family. This was really difficult for me. I really struggled with grief during this time because I didn’t get the space to grieve at all. My first sergeant watched my like a hawk for the remainder of my time there because he was the one who told me what had happened. After I returned home about four months later, I decided to start my journey in mental health. I changed my major from education to human development at NDSU. I worked for the Mobile Crisis Team from 2016-2020, graduating with my master’s degree in counseling from Capella University. After working for a couple different bigger clinics in town, I chose to start my own practice. I wanted more flexibility with my time as a single parent to the most amazing young girl. Co-parenting is difficult for a lot of divorced parents, my case is no different. I grew a bigger passion to help kids in high-conflict situations and decided to join the world of parenting consulting (parent coordination in ND) and parenting-time expediting. I started a second business. My hope is to grow this practice to also offer custody evaluations and coparenting therapy. After I grew this second business, I realized both businesses had the same initials. SMC. Sound Mind Counseling is my therapy business and Superior Mediation and Consulting is my newest business.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not always been a smooth road, but it has been smoother than I anticipated. Credentialing with insurance companies is not always an easy process. I ended up having quite a few pro-bono sessions when I first opened Sound Mind Counseling to make sure my clients were able to be seen even though I wasn’t yet credentialed with their insurance plans. I continue to struggle off and on with billing a variety of insurance plans.
I also moved out of MN personally and now live in ND. Because of this move, I need to be licensed in ND. I am only licensed currently in MN, where my business is located. In order to become licensed in ND, I need to take an additional counseling exam and return to supervision due to ND’s requirements. This has been a difficult experience and has limited my ability to be flexible with my clients. Although I see most of my client’s in person, I am unable to see them via Telehealth if they are located in ND due to the licensure barrier.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My therapy practice has been open since 2023 and the mediation business opened in 2025. I specialize in some of the more difficult populations including personality disorders and high-conflict families. I am proud to serve these populations and have found success in doing so. My passion is serving my community and helping people find a better quality of life. Life has both good and bad in it, sometimes we just need some support finding the good in the middle of the stress.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
The best advice I received was to “Take a chance on yourself.” Yes it can be financially difficult to start, but I feel that if you have enough passion and determination, you can be just as successful.
