Today we’d like to introduce you to Aspen Turney.
Hi Aspen, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I like to think that my journey to becoming a therapist and owner of Bliss Therapy Co. started in early elementary school when a doctor prescribed me my first diet to lose weight. Over the following fifteen years, I tried everything I could to shrink my body, including diets, weight loss pills, excessive exercise, and even a live-in weight loss camp at age 11 — Regardless of how my body changed, I never reached satisfaction with myself. I eventually found myself on an eating disorder therapist’s couch in college, where I began unpacking my story and the pressures I had seemingly always felt to be thinner.
As my story unfolded, I realized that my eating disorder didn’t only impact my relationship with food. It had a domino effect of damaged confidence in numerous aspects of my life, including dating, intimacy, exercise, and spontaneity. As a younger person, I was stuck in patterns of insecurely attached relationships, shame associated with pleasure, and avoidance of trying new things that would have required my body and authentic self to be seen by the world. Eventually, alongside my eating disorder therapist and dietitian team, I sought additional support from a sex and relationship therapist to overcome the tangled mess I had found myself in, between my relationship with food and my relationships with everyone else. Although lacking a sense of security within myself had become my norm, therapy helped me uncover the voice of my true self — my intuition and values that fueled my motivation to grow.
With the knowledge of my care team, lots of vulnerability and growth, and plenty of ups and down, I worked toward unburdening myself of the expectations of constantly-changing beauty ideals and the loud and intrusive voice of diet culture. I learned how to care for my body compassionately through intuitive eating, self-acceptance, and ultimately, body liberation. I developed an identity beyond my physical appearance that allowed me to be present in my relationships and experiences in my body. I uncovered my values, desires, and passions, and I allowed myself to embrace pleasure and live fully and authentically. After my own therapy growth had been so impactful to my wellbeing and life satisfaction, it felt like an obvious choice for me to want to impact future generations in the same way.
I went on to complete dual Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Spanish Language and Literature, then my Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Throughout my education, I gained clinical experience volunteering as a crisis counselor, managing care for the severely mentally ill (SMI) population, counseling university students academically, then (finally!) providing psychotherapy during my clinical internships.
Upon obtaining my license, I began working in private practice, where I prioritized meeting, collaborating with, and learning from as many mental health resources and professionals as I could. To my surprise, I quickly found myself with a few unique professional opportunities — While balancing private practice, I took on the role of writing the therapy curriculum for a new eating disorder intensive outpatient program and assisted in its launch, leading the first several program cohorts successfully to treatment graduation. I also began volunteering with the Arizona Counselors Association (AzCA), where I developed an annual Mentorship program to bridge gaps between counseling students and licensed clinicians and increase their access to community resources. From that opportunity, I have since been appointed to the AzCA Board to serve as the Community Outreach Chair, where I find passion in leading a committee focused on building relationships and university partnerships within the counseling field.
Taking everything I have learned and grown from throughout my journey as both a therapist and long-time therapy client, I felt ready this year to take a leap into my own private practice. With the intention of creating a space that felt true to myself and could provide custom-tailored care to fit each of my clients’ unique needs and identities, Bliss Therapy Co. was born. Specialized in providing evidence-based care focused on disordered eating and body image, relationships and attachment, sexuality, trauma, and anxiety, Bliss Therapy Co. is intentionally designed to be inclusive, affirming, and collaborative, celebrating people of all body sizes, identities, and sexualities.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I absolutely love my career as a therapist, private practice owner, and advocate for inclusive healthcare — But it has certainly come with challenges and huge learning curves!
In the therapy field, it can feel like we’re challenged to constantly grow, learn, and become more self-aware. I didn’t grow up with healthy models of emotional expression and relationship dynamics, so establishing myself in this career involved a significant amount of reflection, unlearning, and relearning to become emotionally secure and skilled. I strive to continue self-reflecting and growing in myself, my relationships, and my emotional skillset every day, but I also try to moderate my drive to constantly be and do better, because resting and self-acceptance are valuable, too.
As one of the first entrepreneurs in my family, opening my own practice feels like a huge accomplish that, at times, was also confusing, overwhelming, and most significantly, isolating. I opened my practice as a solo business owner, which required me to be vulnerable in new ways and learn many new things on my own. I am also amongst the younger clinicians in my field, so I have faced a lot of imposter syndrome and self-doubt that I didn’t anticipate. I am so thankful to have many role models and loved ones who have supported me to reach this place in my career, but I’m always on the lookout for more friends who understand both the isolation and excitement of getting here!
Finally, as a plus size provider, I continually face the challenge of our culture that stigmatizes body diversity and places value on thinness. Throughout my career, I have faced judgment and criticism for my body, assumptions about my skillset and knowledge, and lack of trust and respect from medical providers practicing from a weight-centric model. Though research shows that weight-inclusive medical and mental healthcare models better promote health outcomes compared to models focused on weight and dieting, our medical system is far from size-inclusive, and this creates barriers for me as a human and as a therapist for clients in all body sizes. (This is one of the reasons why I view advocacy and educating as such important parts of my work!)
We’ve been impressed with Bliss Therapy Co., but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I founded Bliss Therapy Co., a private practice specialized in treating disordered eating, negative body image, relationship and sexuality issues, trauma, and anxiety in Phoenix, AZ and virtually across Arizona state. I am most proud that Bliss Therapy Co. is an intentionally curated for clients to feel comfortable showing up as their authentic selves to be understood, challenged, and empowered to grow. If you’ve felt ashamed or judged for how you look, how you’ve lived, or who you are, Bliss Therapy Co. is the place where you get to feel comfortable opening up — And I’ll always show up as my authentic and open self, too, so you don’t have to feel like you’re the only human in the room.
As the therapist behind the business, I offfer a wide range of evidence-based therapy modalities that are tailored to each clients’ needs and preferences, including EMDR, IFS, EFT, ACT, ERP, and CBT. I am a size inclusive (HAES and Intuitive Eating aligned), LGBTQ+ affirming, and sex positive provider.
Along with mental health therapy offerings, I provide community education and speaking engagements about size inclusive healthcare, eating disorder awareness, relationship and sexuality topics, and professional development to university counseling programs, mental health practices, medical providers, and through 1:1 consultation with fellow medical and mental health clinicians. I also recently started writing blogs on these topics available to everyone on my website.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
For my best work & life:
Books:
Intuitive Eating by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole
Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel S. F. Heller
Feel it All by Casey Tanner
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay Gibson
The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
Podcasts:
Food Psych by Christy Harrison
Where Should We Begin? by Esther Perel
Brave Love, Great Sex by Laurie Watson and George Faller
Maintenance Phase by Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbs
For entertainment:
Women & Crime by Meghan Sacks and Amy Shlosberg
Something Was Wrong by Tiffany Reese
Bad Dates by Smartless Media
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blisstherapyco.com
- Instagram: @therapywithaspen
- Other: [email protected]
Image Credits
Andrea Michelle Photography
