Ali McKleroy, M.A., LMFT

Founder • Art Therapist • Author • Artist

Hi, I’m Ali. I’m a licensed art therapist of nearly 20 years, and the founder of Center for Spark®.

Burnout didn’t come crashing in—it whispered. Slowly, over time.
It was in the back-to-back sessions with no time to breathe.

It was in the way I stopped making art for myself, the way joy felt like something far off, the way my body carried a tiredness I couldn’t shake.

It was in the small compromises—skipping walks and yoga classes, pushing through fatigue, setting aside my own needs—until I barely recognized myself.

Private practice had once felt like freedom, like possibility. But gradually, the light began to fade.

My creativity went quiet, my laughter less frequent, and the spark that once fueled me dimmed.

This is how burnout often comes to therapists—not as a single breaking point, but as a slow erosion of joy.

And yet, what I’ve discovered is that our radiance never truly disappears. It waits for us in the places we’ve forgotten to look: in art, in ritual, in breath, in community.

That’s why I created Restoring the Radiant Healer—a monthly sanctuary where we return to our own medicine:

🌙 Creative practices that awaken expression, joy and flow.
🌙 Soulful rituals that replenish the nervous system and ground.
🌙 Community with therapists who truly see and understand you.

Because creative joy is not a luxury—it’s the wellspring of aliveness. And when we reclaim it, our work and our lives begin to light up again.