Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristy Burgess.
Hi Kristy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The story of my business began during COVID, when the world slowed down and life as I knew it shifted. At the time, I was working as a therapist in the Women’s Prison in Shakopee, MN. The restrictions of that environment made it difficult to provide therapy in the same way I once had, and I found myself searching for an outlet to stay connected to my skills—and to my purpose.
So, I poured my energy into creating a small private practice on the side, a space where I could keep my therapy skills sharp while weaving in my growing passion for energy and spiritual healing. If I’m being honest, it also served another purpose: it helped me build a small nest egg to eventually leave a relationship that was no longer aligned with me. I’m human too, and like many of us, I had my own lessons to heal and grow through.
For the next year, my online practice continued steadily. Then, in the fall of 2021, I found myself once again looking to the Universe for guidance. It was time to fully step away from that old chapter of my life. With a leap of faith, I packed up my things, my two daughters, and my very pregnant belly—one month away from welcoming my third—and moved to Cannon Falls, MN.
During maternity leave, I reflected deeply on what was next. Driving an hour to my 8–4 job no longer made sense as a newly single mom of three. I needed something closer to home and more aligned with where my heart was leading me. That’s when I discovered Acacia Studios, a warm and welcoming space that felt aligned with my energy and values. There, I practiced both EMDR and energy healing, surrounded by a like-minded community that allowed my healing practice to truly bloom.
Over the next two years, I deepened my studies in crystal healing and reconnected with the International Center for Reiki Training, expanding both my knowledge and my capacity for self-healing.
As anyone who’s been on a healing journey knows—growth often requires change. What once fit beautifully can begin to fall away to make room for something new. By the fall of 2023, I felt called to shift again, this time bringing my practice home.
Now, I work out of my home office, offering the same heart-centered EMDR and energy healing services, while expanding into VortexHealing®, coaching and soul-aligned transformation work. My focus has evolved beyond simply releasing the past—it’s about helping others build a vision for their future from the inside out.
In a world full of distractions, true transformation begins when we reconnect to the love, peace, and wholeness already within us. From that place, our outer world naturally begins to reflect the life we truly desire—and deserve. And this is how my business serves others.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has definitely been an adventure—one filled with lessons, growth, and a few sharp turns along the way.
On a personal level, learning how to balance being a mother of three while building a business has been one of my greatest teachers. Only a month after settling into Acacia Studios, life threw me another curve: my mother’s terminal illness took a turn. Overnight, I found myself juggling the roles of single mother, small business owner, and caretaker. I hadn’t yet fully learned the art of asking for help, and before long, she entered hospice care.
Those months were some of the hardest and most sacred of my life. After she left for home on Hospice, I did my best to refocus on my children and my business, though the layers of grief have been thick and ongoing and she would not transition for another 2 years in the Spring of 2024. Yet through it all, my passion for healing became my anchor. The very tools I used to help others became the medicine that carried me through my own transformation. That journey has deepened my awareness, softened my compassion, and made me even more present for others walking their own paths through loss, change, and rebirth here in this “School of Earth.”
Professionally, I often joke that earning a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy prepares you beautifully to be a therapist—but not necessarily to run a business. The learning curve has been real! Understanding the ebb and flow of income, creating structure in the chaos, and learning to trust the natural rhythms of entrepreneurship have all been initiations in their own right.
At one point, I realized I needed community and guidance to grow in a way that felt aligned with my values. That’s when I found the Holistic School of Business, whose approach completely resonated with me. The founder teaches healers and heart-centered practitioners how to build sustainable, joyful businesses that are guided by divine flow—not burnout. Their mentorship helped me reshape not just my business strategy, but my mindset, reminding me that success can be both soulful and sustainable.
Through it all, I’ve learned that every challenge—whether personal or professional—has been an invitation to grow, to soften, and to align more deeply with my purpose: to serve myself and others for the highest good of all.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Holistic Reiki Connections?
About Holistic Reiki Connections
Holistic Reiki Connections was born from the understanding that true healing begins from within. It’s a space where science and spirit meet—where psychotherapy, energy healing, and soul coaching merge to support deep, lasting transformation.
At its heart, my practice helps people release the pain of their past and reconnect to their inner peace, joy, and authentic power. Through a unique integration of EMDR therapy, energy healing modalities (including Holy Fire® III Karuna Reiki®, VortexHealing®, crystal healing, and sound therapy), and transformational coaching, clients learn to rewire old patterns, calm their nervous systems, and open to a life that feels deeply aligned with their soul.
The work is not just about healing trauma—it’s about remembering who you truly are beneath the conditioning, the anxiety, the burnout, and the roles you’ve had to play. It’s about restoring connection to the divine within and creating a life that reflects that love and truth from the inside out.
A Holistic and Transformational Approach
I’m deeply proud that the work my clients do lasts. The transformations I witness are not surface-level—they are soul-deep shifts that ripple through every area of life. Over the years, I’ve refined my approach to make healing both profound and efficient, because I know time and energy are sacred.
That’s why I’ve adapted an intensive EMDR therapy model that condenses what might traditionally take one to two years of therapy into six focused, three-hour sessions. These intensives are paired with Reiki I & II training for clients who feel called to open their own channel to healing energy.
This combination creates a foundation for lasting change—helping people release old trauma, dissolve limiting beliefs, and reclaim their natural sense of peace, clarity, and vitality. After the intensives, I offer ongoing coaching to help clients integrate their breakthroughs into their daily lives, relationships, and spiritual practices.
The Heart of My Work
What I love most about this work is witnessing people remember their wholeness—the moment they realize they are not broken, but becoming. I’ve seen countless clients move from feeling trapped in anxiety, depression, and pain to living with a renewed sense of joy, creativity, and connection.
I don’t believe we are meant to stay stuck in suffering or defined by a diagnosis. When we learn to regulate our nervous system, release stored trauma, and open our hearts to the Divine, healing becomes not only possible—it becomes our natural state.
At Holistic Reiki Connections, healing isn’t just about recovery—it’s about rebirth. It’s about helping you reconnect to your soul’s wisdom, align with your purpose, and create a life that feels free, authentic, and deeply alive.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My advice for anyone starting out is simple: keep going, even when it feels hard. Because it will feel hard sometimes. Those moments aren’t signs of failure—they’re the very times when your capacity to grow, expand, and hold more is being stretched.
Remember why you started. You brought your business to life because something within you was inspired—and that inspiration is the Universe working through you. It’s sacred. It’s purpose.
Surround yourself with community. Build your network and keep those soul-aligned people close—the ones who remind you of your brilliance when you forget. There will be days when you question yourself, but that’s part of the journey.
Keep showing up for what you love. You have a gift that only you can offer the world, and that’s worth every bit of time, effort, and heart you put into it. The only limits that truly exist are the ones you place on yourself—so free yourself more and more each day. When you do, your courage and authenticity become an invitation for others to do the same.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sites.google.com/kristyburgesstherapy.com/kristyburgessmalmft/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holisticreikiconnections/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HolisticReikiConnections
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristy-burgess-7307b18a/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@holisticreikiconnections
