Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoe Vlastos.
Hi Zoe, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up on a farm adjacent to a large Nature Preserve in southern Illinois, where I was homeschooled with my three younger siblings. That environment provided me with rich opportunities to spend countless hours exploring the woods and observing the wild harmony of the natural world, to co-create my learning with my parents, and to connect deeply with myself and my passions (before I even knew what it meant to be passionate about something). I so appreciate the way I was raised because there was so much space for my soul and my aliveness.
When I moved to the front range of the Colorado Rockies for college, I was both heartbroken to be distant from the deep roots of my family and also immensely excited to expand into a place where I already felt at home. Mountains have always spoken to my soul. While I went into undergrad planning to study medicine and music, as I witnessed others and found myself experiencing mental health challenges which then led to powerful self-growth, I was pulled into studying neuroscience and psychology. I was fascinated by the brain as well as the way people survive and thrive in the world.
By the time I graduated with degrees in neuroscience and psychology (and a minor in music, because the artist in me supported me through the hard times), I knew I wanted to become a therapist. Nonetheless, I was not yet sure how to get there so I took a couple of years to travel and work and fall-in-love before going back to graduate school. The most impactful job I had during that time was as a wilderness therapy guide. Those 8-day shifts supporting groups of teens and young adults in navigating their own mental health journeys while in the nonjudgmental embrace of the wilderness reconnected me with the wild soul who had developed in those midwestern forests and profoundly shaped me into the woman I wanted to become.
The next few years were a blur of graduate school, completing my internship at the Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence during the depth of the pandemic, getting married to the love of my life, working in a partial hospitalization program for eating disorder recovery, buying a fixer-upper house full of light, adventuring in the outdoors whenever possible, and, a year ago, starting my own business. SolVida Psychotherapy and Connections is a weaving of all my life experiences and a true expression of my wild soul. I see my business and myself co-creating with life, which is similar to each time I step into a session with a client or a group in the outdoors: I don’t know what wants to happen next and I deeply trust the process. Starting SolVida was a homecoming for my soul and is now where I invite my clients to find a homecoming within themselves and their relationships.
Now, most days I am connected to the everpresent undercurrent of appreciation that I get to live my soul’s purpose through my work.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Hmm…no, it hasn’t always been smooth and I find myself wondering if my obstacles have mostly been created by my mind. The self-doubt, impostor syndrome, and resistance to unwanted outcomes or feedback have mostly been internal challenges, which I now see as products of my own unwillingness to be present in the moment with what is happening in the here and now of my life. Honestly, when I’m able to be fully present with my internal and external landscape, it’s pretty smooth sailing.
The challenge is that I find staying present in my life to be extremely hard at times. So many things in our technological modern world vie for my attention and I easily find myself pulled into productivity culture; I often feel like a human doing rather than a human being. Which is probably why I spend so much time out-of-doors, because nature consistently brings me back into the home of my body and the wonder of the present moment.
Also, I’m not about eliminating challenge from life because, honestly, I find great joy in challenge. I love the feeling of purpose and aliveness that comes from climbing a mountain, moving towards a soulful goal, or doing the hard thing that feels so right in my body. Some of the most valuable things in my life – my relationships, my outdoor experiences, my connection with myself – have been strengthened because I have moved through challenge rather than avoid it. I deeply appreciate feeling the strength in my bones and my heart, my values and my connections when I choose to be stretched by doing something hard. When life tosses me hardships or dumps me on my ass (again!), I try to ask myself how I can face the challenge rather than run away.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What do I do? It seems like such a simple question and also a challenge to put into words sometimes. I see being a therapist and creating spaces as both an art and a science. I mix my background of neuroscience, biology, and psychology with my experiences in wilderness therapy, as a musician and dancer, and my trust in flowing with what wants to happen. In essence, I hold space, create experiences, and guide individuals, couples, and groups through both internal and external landscapes. Being in the fullness of the human experience with my clients is such a deep honor for me. I feel teary right now as I think about it. Truly, it is such a gift that I get to hold space for the process of people being with and exploring their lives and themselves.
So that’s the heart and soul of what I do. On the surface my work is seeing individuals and couples in my private practice, SolVida Psychotherapy, and through the Evolutionary Power Coaching Collective. I also facilitate groups as faculty at the Evolutionary Power Institute and run ReWilding Retreats with my colleague Elizabeth W.D. Collgray at Victory in the Roots. Our ReWilding Retreats are deep soul work for me. We come together for five magical days to hold each other in reconnecting with our wild essences through time in nature, the support of sisterhood, somatic practices, ceremonies, and the most epic Wild Portrait sessions with Teya Rose Media. Our next ReWilding is coming up in September and I’m already bursting with anticipation to step into the dance of co-creative feminine power!
What makes me unique? Many things, but here’s what’s coming to mind today. One of my favorite things is experiencing life fully, which includes the whole spectrum of emotions from heartbreak and rage to soulful contentment and effervescent joy. I went through a period of early life when I numbed out my emotional experience in order to survive internal pain. Occasionally I still fall back into those old comforting patterns, yet mostly I find myself so in awe of the richness all of our emotions provide and the wisdom they each hold. A lot of the work I do with clients is around learning to see our emotions and our bodies as our allies who are trying to communicate important information to us about our experience of the world and our deepest desires. I’m all about connecting with what we already know inside ourselves, especially when we allow the chatter of the mind to step aside.
Also, I’m an eternal optimist; my natural tendency is to see the best in others and in life. Of course, just like any other human with a mammal nervous system I find myself in reactive states often. Thank goodness, because we evolved with reactivity to help us survive predators and famines and such! And, I’ve learned that staying in reactivity unnecessarily really doesn’t benefit me or my world. Much of my practice – for myself and my clients – is about learning to shift out of reactivity so that we can access creativity and wonder, love and joy. I support people in developing capability and choice to shift into brain states that support creating what they really want in their lives.
Other fun facts about me include that I utterly adore jumping in cold mountain lakes, when I can’t sleep in the morning I make muffins, I joke that my mind turns into a monster after 10pm (truly, no helpful thoughts in there post my witching hour!), I currently find marketing to be extremely awkward, and I eat chocolate at least three times a day! In other words, I don’t separate being a therapist from being a human. My squishy human body and mammal nervous system is more or less similar to everyone else’s, I just have some more tools and experiences that can be helpful to support others on their journeys. And offering that supportive space is something I absolutely love to do.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Oh, so many! My parents, who have always supported me to pursue my dreams and trust that they will take me where I want to go.
My siblings, who have made me who I am more than anything else and who I love with my whole heart.
My husband, who is both a rock of support and stability as well as a constant instigator of adventure and fun in my life.
All the guides I worked with at Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, each taught me so much about leading by being fully human.
My friends and community, who create such richness in my own human experience and support me in being the best version of myself.
Tsunemi Rooney, my internship supervisor at the Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence who guided me in learning social justice counseling through a lens of radical compassion and care.
Julie Colwell, my mentor and founder of the Evolutionary Power Institute who rocked my world with her framework of body-centered transformation and conscious living. Absolute life changing!
And, the deep part of me that has never given up and always reaches for growth.
Pricing:
- Individual Psychotherapy or Coaching: $150/60min Session
- Couples Counseling or Coaching: $200/60min session, $250/90min session
- Retreats: $600-950/5 day experience
- Groups & Workshops: price varies depending on length
Contact Info:
- Website: solvidatherapy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoevlastos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zvlastos/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-vlastos-021993203/
Image Credits
Elizabeth W.D. Collgray Teya Rose Media
