Meet Dr. Alaina Puff | Intuitive Coach & School Psychologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Alaina Puff and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Puff, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Admittedly, I never anticipated becoming an entrepreneur. However, a cornerstone of my practice has always been providing the highest quality care to my clients. I found that across many mental health settings, there were limitations in the systems that restricted me from doing the work I felt truly passionate about. Whether it was needing to provide an unnecessary and sometimes harmful diagnosis for insurance to cover treatment or only focusing on “what’s wrong” with a client, it was unsettling to be part of a system where many of the approaches did not align with my clinical perspective. So I decided to create my own business where I can fully utilize my own gifts and abilities to serve my clients in a way that is meaningful to them. Flow State Arizona was founded on the principle of helping others harness their intuitive gifts to create a more regulated existence in this lifetime. In a world that is fixated on logic and reason, I believe the future is grounded in activating our inner knowing and guidance found within our bodies. By learning how to tap in to our gifts, we can improve our physical/mental well-being and achieve our deepest desires.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Flow State Arizona is a safe harbor for highly intuitive children, adults, and families. Rather than focusing on what is bringing you into treatment, our distinguishable approach places emphasis on your inherent gifts and abilities to help create more balance and spaciousness in your life. As a school psychologist, I felt many traditional practice settings detracted from my own intuitive qualities when working with my clients, and thus I decided to create a space where I can maximize my own potential as an Intuitive Coach to provide the highest quality of care to my clients. I learned so much about myself since creating Flow State, most notably that your business is truly a reflection of you! Therefore, it is paramount that your personal and professional identities align in a way that is meaningful to you, because if they are out of balance, your business will reflect it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would start our trip at one of my favorite brunch spots, Vovomeena, which is a local fave in my neighborhood – and a must-try is their Japanese cold brewed coffee. After some necessary refueling, we would venture to Piestewa Peak for a steep trek resulting in a 36o degree summit view at the top. Following the adrenaline rush, we would peruse the Melrose neighborhood vintage stores to find some thrifting gems. We would finish our day with an amazing dinner in downtown Phoenix at Wren and Wolf. They offer an amazing menu with a speakeasy right next door that hosts a wide array of unique cocktails. The remainder of the time would be spent at the Arizona Biltmore Resort, where we could hang by the pool, receive spa treatments, and spend quality time together in the Arizona desert!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In my educational and professional journey, I had numerous mentors and supervisors along the way who provided meaningful support and guidance, and for that I’m deeply grateful. However, I want to give a personal shoutout to my own intuition for providing me with the proverbial “push” to keep pressing forward in pursuit of my dreams. Let me explain. When you are creating something new that has never been done before, it can be incredibly challenging to persist in the face of questions and doubts, because no one has done exactly what you are pursuing and thus there is no roadmap. Therefore, when creating Flow State, I was often put in situations where I had to learn how to tap into my own intuitive knowing in order to make my next decision. And let me tell you, it was incredibly uncomfortable and at times terrifying. Even when I did not have all the logistics worked out, I had to “trust my gut” to reaffirm that I was on the right path. In doing so, I was able to learn how to hold a vision without always relying on a clear sightline and now this is something I teach my clients how to do.

Website: https://www.flowstateaz.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowstateaz/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-puff-ph-d-ncsp-1a1727103/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551044495228

Image Credits
@krissy_taylorphotography