Experiential Therapists in Des Moines, IA

~ Welcome, I'm Alexandra, a Holistic Psychotherapist and Soulful Life Coach committed to helping you find balance, peace, and purpose in your life. - With over a decade of experience, I specialize in supporting introspective, growth-oriented individuals and highly sensitive souls to release anxiety, stress, depression, and emotional overwhelm. - My integrative approach holistically blends evidence-based psychotherapy practices with mindfulness, hypnotherapy, energy healing, and soulful life coaching, creating a compassionate and nurturing environment where you can explore your true self without fear of judgment. - I truly believe that every person holds the power to create positive, meaningful changes in their life. Together, we will uncover your inherent potential, build emotional resilience, and cultivate a consistent inner calm. - I am here to walk side by side with you, offering guidance and support as you navigate your journey. My goal is to help you confidently pursue your life's purpose and experience authentic harmony and fulfillment. - Investing in your first session with me is a powerful step towards your healing and transformation. This session will provide you with invaluable insights and tools, setting the foundation for lasting change and relief. - I invite you to take this wise step to invest in yourself and unlock the possibility of true inner peace and fulfillment. Book your first session today and begin your journey towards a more balanced and fulfilling life. Go ahead and reach out! I will walk beside you on this Journey! ~ ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS!~

Something in you knows that what you're carrying runs deeper than the presenting problem. Many of the people I work with are thoughtful, capable, and outwardly composed-yet internally they live with anxiety, depression, chronic tension or pain, relentless self-criticism, or a sense that something essential is blocked, muted, or just out of reach. These struggles may surface in mood, in the body, in behavior, or in relationships-including sexuality and intimacy-but they are rarely contained to any one area. They tend to reflect deeper emotional and relational patterns formed early in life, often before language, that continue to shape how a person approaches closeness, vulnerability, agency, pleasure, and self-expression. My work centers on how early experience shapes the capacity for self-regulation, desire, connection, and meaning throughout life-and particularly on how people come to know what they need and want, how they learn to express or inhibit those impulses, and what happens when these capacities become conflicted, constricted, or difficult to sustain. I integrate psychoanalytic hypnotherapy, somatic awareness, and clinical sexology within a reflective, depth-oriented process. Hypnosis functions as a central clinical tool-creating conditions for deeper internal contact with emotional, bodily, and unconscious experience that can be difficult to reach through conversation alone. The aim is not only relief from symptoms, but the development of a more coherent and compassionate relationship with one's inner life: sensations, emotions, impulses, and desires. This work is oriented toward lasting psychological change-and toward greater freedom in how one relates to oneself, one's body, and one's capacity for connection, authenticity, and vitality. It is best suited to those ready to move beyond symptom management toward something more fundamental.

My practice of MindOverHealing Therapies is dedicated to supporting and helping individuals achieve holistic mind-body-spirit healing so they can break through barriers and be empowered to experience life's possibilities. At this time, I offer online therapy sessions where clients can receive sessions in the comfort of their homes.

Stay rooted deeply in the present moment, allowing your intuition, knowing, and being-ness to shine! These 1.5 hr. Expressive Arts Therapy sessions offer an eclectic approach to therapy. I have created a dynamic toolbox that can meet anyone where they are regardless of what topic you would like to explore. Combining mindfulness, talk therapy, somatic awareness, and creative approaches every session is unique depending on what is most nourishing for you on that specific day.

Life has a way of shaping us through both beauty and heartbreak. I deeply understand anger, anxiety, and existential dilemmas. My own journey has been one of profound feeling, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to growth. Growth begins when we are willing to meet ourselves with honesty, curiosity, and care. For two decades I cultivated knowledge and skills to help others move through intense emotional pain, life transitions, and spiritual questions with greater clarity, resilience, and purpose. I faced seasons that tested everything I thought I knew. Healing from a narcissistic relationship, navigating a challenging postpartum year, grieving the loss of my mother, and embracing unexpected identity changes~ this all became part of my awakening. These experiences- combined with years of dedicated study and personal reflection- have deepened my compassion and understanding of the healing process. My work honors both the unique human spirit and the sacredness woven into everyday life. Today, as a Master of Divinity and Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, I help people reconnect with their true selves, cultivate emotional healing, and explore a deeper relationship with the Divine. My work is grounded in authenticity, empathy, and meaningful transformation. The values guiding my life are integrity, compassion, and wholehearted depth. I'd love to learn what values are leading you on your journey today.

Des Moines is Iowa's state capital and the center of America's insurance industry — home to Principal Financial Group, Wellmark, and dozens of other major insurers — creating a therapy demand shaped by the particular stresses of financial services careers alongside the concerns of a growing and increasingly diverse urban population. The city has experienced dramatic demographic change through refugee resettlement and immigration, with growing communities from Myanmar, Congo, and Latin America making it one of the most rapidly diversifying mid-size cities in the Midwest. UnityPoint Health — Iowa Methodist Medical Center and MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center provide institutional mental health resources, with a private practice community concentrated in the West Des Moines and Urbandale corridors. Iowa's relative shortage of mental health providers makes Des Moines an important access point for the broader state, and many therapists here serve clients from smaller surrounding communities.

Gender ID

	72%	Female
	14%	Gender Fluid
	14%	Male

Session Type

	57%	Online Only
	43%	In Person and Online

Top Specialties

71%	Anxiety or Fears
71%	Stress
71%	Depression
57%	Forgiveness
57%	Life Coaching
57%	Relationship and Marriage Counseling
57%	Spirituality

Ages Served

100%	Adult
71%	Senior
71%	Young Adult
29%	Teen
14%	Children

Client Focus

71%	Women
57%	Christian
43%	Men
43%	Jewish
43%	Buddhist

Experiential therapists in Des Moines, Iowa IA

Alexandra Vartosu

Dr. Stéphanie Gamache, PhD

MindOverHealing Therapies

Karen Queller

Shannon Gorres

Experiential Therapy therapists in Des Moines, Iowa Statistics

Average years in practice

Average cost per session

Accept insurance

Offer sliding scale