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Alaina first worked with teens as a Trailwalker for a wilderness program in Arizona. She says they spent weeks living in the desert, hiking while carrying powdered food and meager possessions. She enjoyed the intense connections made with these students, and enjoyed the natural consequences that spoke much louder than any “therapy” could. Shortly after that she completed a master’s degree in 2005, and has been with Heritage ever since, continuing her emphasis on natural consequences and self-directed change. She has also worked in substance abuse recovery, outpatient individual and couples counseling and outpatient children’s play therapy. “Teens in residential treatment has by far been my favorite, with the most successful outcomes,” she says. Alaina believes the long-term nature of Heritage provides an ideal environment for genuine, internal change for teenagers. They can’t fake it and instead have to tap deep within themselves for change that lasts, which means so much more success for them after they leave Heritage. She loves to come to work and feels lucky to rub shoulders with the staff at Heritage who are some of her favorite people. Her students build amazing relationships with their direct care staff, look up to them, want to be like them, learn from their lives and really listen to their experiences and advice. These relationships are an integral part of Heritage that affects as much change in teen’s lives as any other part of the program. She says the relationship model makes her therapy job so much more meaningful when her kids are receiving so much good influence from everyone around them. She grew up in Phoenix, with brief stints in Dallas and Boston as a teenager. She says teen girls have been the majority of her caseload for the last decade, but after taking two years off to have two little boys, she has really enjoyed working with male students. She says she truly has a tender spot in her heart for the students she works with, and she’s passionate about helping them discover a path that leads to a healthier and happier life. In her free time outside of mothering and working, she does portrait and wedding photography and works on home improvement projects.!.?