Origin Story
"At Sol, we hold space for those who have walked through darkness. Our mission is to help individuals reconnect with their light — gently, patiently, and with deep reverence for every scar- by providing compassionate, culturally attuned mental health support. We believe healing is not about forgetting the past, but about learning to live fully in the present, with the sun on your face and hope in your hands.”
There are stories we carry in silence — buried beneath years, locked behind ribs, held tight in our bodies like old, forgotten songs.
At Sol, we understand that trauma doesn’t just happen in the mind — it lingers in the nervous system, in relationships, in the way we breathe, trust, love, and move through the world.
That’s why our space is built like sunlight: gentle, warm, and steady. We are not here to rush your healing. We are here to honor it. To walk beside you as you remember your own strength, your voice, your story — and most of all, your wholeness.
Sol means sun.
And like the sun, you were never truly gone — just hidden for a while.
We believe that healing doesn’t mean erasing the past. It means learning how to live again — with softness, with courage, and with the knowledge that you are more than what happened to you.
This is not about becoming someone new.
It’s about coming home to yourself.
The Beginning
Sol Therapy began as one woman’s less than enthusiastic “fine” to the idea of starting her own practice. See, I have loved all whom I’ve worked with in community mental health spaces, from the staff I consulted with differing approaches to the individuals I have had the privilege to walk alongside in their therapeutic journey. My education and work history have been integral to my professional development.
I became more disfranchised with the mental health industrial complex (MHIC) as time went on. Dr. Jennifer Mullan described the MHIC as “systems of profit over health, wellness, and care” (2023, p. 7). Let’s call MHIC “the system” for this post. Individuals continue to lose health insurance due to state and federal regulations, red tape, and systemic barriers limiting access to their care. Individual therapy is only covered by insurance if they meet specific diagnostic criteria that further labels and stigmatizes individuals. As a counselor and provider who believes in a person’s self-agency and determination, I was stuck in the system’s web to provide affordable and accessible therapy while also needing to provide for my family.
The idea of working outside the system became more compelling even with the fear of the unknown. So, I said a timid yes and started Sol Therapy while working part time in a community mental health agency. I found others who also wanted to feel empowered in their therapeutic journey without ascribing to the system and insurance requirements. We met in local parks and hiking trails where we walked in nature, practiced mindfulness, fostered self-awareness, utilized movement, and increased resilience. It was a beautiful step away from the “traditional” western concept of talk-therapy.
However, I continued to receive calls from individuals wanting this form of care while needing to utilize insurance because they had few other options. Idaho faces significant mental health needs as it is rated the 46th in the country for access to mental health services, indicating an increased need for funding and resources to address these challenges (MHA, n.d.). Idaho also has one of the highest suicide rates in the country; 48% higher than the national average (MHA, n.d.). 1,274,325 people in Idaho live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals (NAMI, 2021).
Here lies Sol Therapy’s paradox, the desire to work outside the capitalistic system and needing it to provide accessible care. Though I work on the advocacy level to encourage systemic and legislative change in Idaho, that is a slow-moving ship for those calling in need of a provider. So, the decision was made to be credentialed with three health insurance panels to provide accessible care for those who need to utilize insurance due to financial constraints. (I currently offer a superbill for insurance in the meantime as the credentialing process takes 3-4 months to complete.)
Though this is one aspect of the origin story, Sol continues to grow, change, and evolve.
I am so glad you are here.
References
Mapping the mental health of our communities: Explore the data. Create change. (n.d.) Mental Health America [MHA]. Retrieved on September 16, 2025 from: https://mhanational.org/data-in-your-community/mha-state-county-data/
Mullan, J. (2023). Decolonizing therapy. W.W. Norton and Company.
National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI], (2021). Mental health in Idaho. Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/StateFactSheets/IdahoStateFactSheet.pdf
