Alexandra is the mother of two daughters, ages 2 and 8, who fuel her passion and experience in the field of development and growth. She grew up playing on the beaches and in the rainforests of Puerto Rico and enjoys exploring the state parks and farms of New Jersey. Alexandra attended William Paterson University and graduated in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She enrolled in Caldwell’s University Master Counseling Program at the encouragement of her husband who believed she had the talent to succeed and help others in the mental health field.
She began her experience in 2007 as a Clinical Intern for a non-profit community outpatient agency. She graduated from the Master’s Program in 2008 and by 2011 she was promoted to Senior Clinical Counselor within the same agency she started in as an intern. During her time as a Senior Clinical Counselor she provided crisis intervention, assessment and counseling to a range of clients ages 2 to late adulthood. The focus of her work was in providing support, referral, and advocacy for victims of domestic violence, abuse, and neglect.
After 10 years of working as a Senior Clinical Counselor she was promoted to Director and currently provides clinical supervision and direction to masters level counselors by ensuring the delivery of high quality, safe and effective mental health care that is focused on improving outcomes for clients and their families. Alexandra was also an Adjunct Professor of Psychology for Bergen Community College from 2012 to 2018 and has taught General and Developmental Psychology.
Alexandra will be the first to tell you that she is not a huge fan of nature. However her work in the mental health field and her devotion to her family brought her to further study the impact of early childhood experiences in development and growth. Working with a range of clients as young as 2 years old she saw the impact of stress, abuse, neglect, and mental health needs not met in children and how it manifested in adults. Alexandra admired her colleagues’ experience, their interest in nature, and the success they had in incorporating wellness and mental health in their treatment approach and brought them together to create Ever Free Wellness. Her goal is to educate children, parents, teens, and adults on how experiences can mold and shape our brain, our functioning, and our well being. She would like to take it further by showing you how creating experiences in nature can lead to a healthier and more self-fulfilling life.
Anna spent half of her childhood outside roaming around the Blue Ridge Mountains of Central Virginia before cell phones were a thing. After high school she ended up in the beautiful Ithaca, NY for her undergraduate studies where she probably spent more time trail running than studying. After a brief stint majoring in Outdoor Adventure Leadership where she learned outdoor skills, leadership, and ethics, she completed a bachelors in Recreation Management in 2010. Succeeding her degree, she moved to Northern NJ and worked in recreational programs in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, where she realized that she wanted to help people in a different way.
She returned to school and by 2014 completed a Master's in Community Counseling at Montclair State University and began her therapeutic work as a Clinical Counselor at a local non-profit community outpatient agency helping a range of ages from 2 to late adulthood through therapeutic play, family counseling, and individual counseling.
While she enjoys advocating for and counseling people of many ages, Anna has gained extensive practice and insight in working with adolescent girls and their mothers, as well as assisting clients with later-in-life transitions and caregiver stress.
As one of the Ever Free founders, she has incorporated the intrinsic therapeutic properties of nature with her love of helping others through counseling. Her goal is to bring together her knowledge of mental health counseling with the concept of Eco-Therapy, a nature based approach to wellness and healing. Her interest in Eco-Therapy is born from a combination of her own love of being outdoors and seeing how many of her clients lacked what was once a vital a connection to nature that can often be healing.
Alan’s interest with nature developed as a child where he spent much of his time playing outdoors and spending much of his summers in the Pocono Mountains with his family. In 2010 he completed a combined bachelor’s/master’s degree in General and Theoretical Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University. During that time he began briefly working as a mentor for children and teens with behavioral and emotional challenges. He went on to spend three years working as a residential counselor for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. His favorite activity and one he observed to bring about the most benefit to clients was when residents were taken to parks and trips to Bear Mountain.
In 2010 he began working with parents and children from ages 2 ½ to 6 years in a children’s behavioral therapeutic program in a non-profit community outpatient agency. In 2011 he enrolled in the Master’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Montclair State University and graduated by 2016. After completing his second masters he was moved within the community agency to the status of Clinical Counselor in their outpatient program where he gained experience in providing individual and family counseling to a range of ages from 6 years to late adulthood.
As one of the Ever Free founders he has combined his experience with mental health counseling with his experience and training in traditional Chinese Kung Fu style which integrates natural principles into its art and philosophy. His goal is to help others experience the outdoors and help them realize the spiritual and healing benefits it can bring into one’s life.
