Meet Dr. Alyssa Botte
Alyssa is the owner and founder of Blue River Counseling. She is a developmental psychologist specializing in adult development, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Indiana, and a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) in North Carolina. She is certified and trained in multiple popular trauma treatment modalities like EMDR, brain spotting, and internal family systems (IFS).
Though Alyssa has a specialty in working with trauma, CPTSD, dissociation, and dissociative identity disorder, she very much enjoys working with a range of clients assisting with anxiety, depression, life stressors, and relationship concerns (communication and boundaries). Alyssa also practices radical inclusivity and seeks to create safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ individuals and neurodivergent individuals.
Qualifications
Alyssa’s academic accomplishments consist of two bachelor’s degrees in Family Studies & Religion from Samford University (2013), a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counselor from Wake Forest University (2017), and a PhD in Developmental Psychology from Capella University (2024).
What Alyssa says about her clinical expertise and her ideal clients…
“My clinical passions often intersect and evolve out of my own personal life. When my husband began work as a law enforcement officer and as a reserve Army Chaplain, I wanted to be able to expand my work to assist first responders, law enforcement, and the military with the acute trauma and ongoing stressors they and their families experience as part of the job. No one understands what rotating shifts, internal department politics, and being chronically underpaid and underappreciated can do to an individual until they begin experiencing it.
Similarly, when I had my first child and struggled to adjust to working motherhood, or had tragic experiences of pregnancy losses and secondary infertility, I experienced firsthand both prenatal and postpartum grief. This led me to deepen my training in counseling for women’s issues such as perinatal/postpartum mental health disorders, the profound trauma that infertility creates, or the deep parental grief that parents may experience with child loss.
Growing up in a high-demand religion, I experienced first hand how spiritual and religious abuse can be deeply damaging to self-esteem and personal identity. And yet, I’ve also witnessed how spirituality and faith communities can be the greatest asset and joy in others’ healing journey. Whether your goal is to cope with leaving a cult, to grow in your own personal understanding of faith, or to have a completely agnostic counseling experience, I am passionate about using and adapting different spiritual practices and beliefs to helping people on their healing journey.”