Mosaic Counseling and Wellness offers a safe space for recovery
Published 10:44 am Monday, October 4, 2021
- Mosaic Counseling and Wellness’s Lizzy Cook heads one of the nonprofit’s yoga classes. Mosaic offers yoga classes, in addition to other services, that help in the journey of recovery. (Reporter Photo/Keith McCoy)
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By MICHELLE LOVE | Staff Writer
Since they opened their doors in 2019, Mosaic Counseling and Wellness has made it their mission to provide a safe space for members of the Helena and Alabaster community. Providing counseling to everyone going through addiction recovery, grief, trauma or even overall stress, Mosaic’s licensed team works closely with clients to ensure a safe and thorough guide to recovery.
Mosaic’s Founder and Executive Director Lizzy Cook has an extensive background in working with women in residential addiction recovery, and it was this background that pulled her into a “place of wanting to offer more and do more for people on a broader level.”
“What we were doing in residential care was kind of limpid, and it seemed like you had to go to five different places to address those individual needs,” Cook said. “You had to go to your counselor for emotional health and your medical doctor for physical health, and if you don’t have a good solid faith in anything, where do you go for your spiritual health? Where do you get to learn about all of these things in a comprehensive setting? We looked around the area and there was nothing. There was not one place that provided healing in a holistic way, so my thought was if nobody else was doing it then why not us?”
Cook and her team began forming the business plan for Mosaic in 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic went into full swing. They moved into their counseling office in June 2020, and opened their doors to all those in need. Cook said they had plenty of people shocked they were attempting to open a business during the pandemic, but she said it was actually the perfect time for Mosaic to come into existence.
“We found the need, though, was ever increasing because of COVID,” she said. “People were struggling with isolation, their physical health, they couldn’t find fellowship in whatever their faith system might be, so it was really an ideal time for us to find our footing in the community and to establish ourselves as a community-oriented service.”
The community welcomed them with open arms, many grateful there were so many services offered that covered all bases of recovery. Mosaic opened their yoga studio at the end of February 2021, and they’ve also opened their second location, now servicing both Helena and Alabaster.
Cook gives all credit to their team of licensed professionals.
“We have an amazing team. Our team is what makes everything happen,” she said. “They believe in what we do, they are 100 percent on board with everything we offer, and they are truly the champions that make everything happen.”
Their staff includes a naturopathic doctor to see people looking into more holistic healing modalities rather than traditional medicine, licensed professional counselors, certified life coaches and licensed marriage and family therapists. There’s also their certified yoga instructors. Cook said they once attempted to calculate how many years of training their staff has in total and “it’s over 75 years of training between all of us which is pretty amazing.”
“All of our yoga instructors are certified in various forms of yoga,” Cook said. “We’ve got trauma informed yoga and one instructor that specializes in restore your core, so our team has really diverse training.”
Mosaic uses various classes to address the disconnect between the mind and the body, something she said is often ignored in the mental health field.
“When you think about it, if somebody gets diagnosed with cancer, or if somebody gets diagnosed with Lupus, something that is attacking the body, there is a whole treatment team that comes in to support their care. You don’t see that in the mental health field regularly, and it is so needed,” Cook said. “When somebody is trying to recover from difficult emotional experiences whether it’s addiction or loss or trauma or even general stress, it’s going to affect your body. To leave that out of the equation when treating mental health, I feel, is negligent. We have to address the whole person.”
Through yoga and other methods, clients are able to experience what it means to bring your emotional, mental and physical health into the same conversation, and healing can begin. One class in particular Cook said is very unique is their “Body Kindness” class, which delves into what it means to nurture and appreciate your body.
“It’s a meditative class that helps women and men learn to speak to themselves through kinder language,” Cook explained. “Most of us speak to ourselves like we’re in an emotionally abusive relationship with our bodies, so this is helping people understand that you are not separate from your body, and you aren’t at war with your body. The more you love your body, the more your body loves you.”
Cook said making their clients feel safe and secure is Mosaic’s top priority, and without the feeling or safety, the healing process cannot truly begin.
“If you don’t feel safe, you’re not going to talk about your most vulnerable fears or needs or insecurities,” said Cook. “Even offering a safe place allows shame to die and stories can be told and things can be brought to the surface just from creating a space of safety. We really just want to create a sense for our clients that they have a containment in a space where they can share their stories and be safe.”
Mosaic welcomes anyone through their doors who is looking to heal, and Cook emphasized they are an inclusive and judge-free environment.
“We have clients from all different backgrounds and for us we don’t question the behavior, we love the whole person,” she said. “We just want to heal whatever is hurting them.”