I'm Haley

I created Rooted Soul from a place that was very real, very human, and very unfinished. My story isn't a polished testimony or a step-by-step guide for how to heal. It's the story that brought me here—the pain, the wrestle, the questions, and the moments that slowly taught me how to come back to my own life again. I'm still learning. I'm still growing. And in many ways, that's the entire point.

I've always been someone who feels and loves deeply, with a deep desire for connection, belonging, and a life full of meaning and possibility. I have longed for the consistency of relationships that stayed, and since I was young I carried a hope that somewhere ahead was a life where I could finally feel that sense of stability and belonging.

My faith was deeply intertwined with my hope. I believed in redemption. I believed God could restore what was broken. I believed that even when life was painful, there was a bigger story unfolding. These beliefs protected and fueled me through some of the hardest moments of my life.

I persevered through years of displacement, addiction ruling the person I loved most, and the pain of a marriage that was slowly coming apart. Each time things got harder, I found a new way to keep it together, to forgive better, and fit each new hurt into the story I was still believing—that somehow, eventually, a miracle would come and it would all be redeemed.

When the truth of deep betrayal finally came into focus, I was confronted with a depth of pain I could no longer fit inside the future I'd imagined. Everything I'd spent years trying to hold together began to shatter.I'd spent so much time hoping for the future I believed was coming that I'd lost touch with the reality of what was actually happening, especially what was happening within me.

Shortly after my life unraveled, I was sitting on the living room floor at my nana's house. I was exhausted and desperate for a way to believe my way through the pain. As I scrolled Instagram, I came across a post about somatic healing. The invitation was to stop trying to make sense of the pain and, instead, to feel it.

I leaned against the couch, feeling it's support on my spine.

I pressed my feet into the plush carpet, noticing its softness between my toes.

I felt my chest expand with a shaky breath, the lump rising in my throat, the pressure of anxiety, and the warmth gathering in the corners of my eyes. None of it felt particularly good. But it felt real.

For a moment, I wasn't trying to fix anything. I wasn't searching for an answer or trying to make the pain mean something. I wasn't looking forward to a future that would someday come. I was simply there, experiencing the life that was actually happening.

That moment opened a door. I began to recognize how much of my life I'd spent trying to think, pray, and believe my way out of pain—and how afraid I'd become that the very things that made me human might somehow mean I was failing God. I began to see that I could be honest about my pain without assuming He was disappointed in me. I could take my faith seriously without treating my humanity as a problem to overcome.

Slowly, I began finding my way back to life.

I could grieve what was missing and still hear the birds outside my window.

I could carry unanswered questions and feel the warmth of the sun.

I could cry on the kitchen floor and still be present for my nephew's sweet belly laugh.

These things didn't erase the pain. But they did return me to my life.

People can spend years fixed on a destination, waiting for life to finally look the way they hoped it would.

Until, eventually, life asks:

Can you be here?

Can you breathe through the ache of not getting to know the ending first?

Not forever. Not because this is ideal. But because this is where life is actually happening.

More About Rooted Soul

Professional Experience

I completed my Master of Social Work at University of Kentucky and am a licensed social worker in the state of Minnesota. I have post-graduate clinical experience in trauma, addiction recovery, and school based child and family therapy.

Much of my clinical experience comes from my time working at the Department of Veterans Affairs providing care in an inpatient addiction recovery program. In that role, I carried a caseload of veterans and facilitated both group and individual therapy during their time in treatment.

That experience gave me direct, day-to-day exposure to trauma, PTSD, attachment wounds, nervous system dysregulation, and the ways people survive overwhelming life experiences. While I had academic training in these areas beforehand, my time at the VA is where that knowledge became deeply lived and relational.

In addition to clinical work, I spent six years working with a nonprofit missions organization focused on international partnership work. I served as Operations Coordinator for Cuba, where my role included building and sustaining relationships with local pastors and communities, assessing community needs, training and supporting local staff, and coordinating and leading international mission teams.

That work placed me in the role of cultural bridge—between visiting groups and the communities we were partnering with. I worked with a wide range of groups, from high school students to adults and seniors, across multiple countries including Cuba, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and several U.S. locations.

Across all of these experiences, what has shaped me most is not just the professional training, but the lived exposure to people in transition, in suffering, in rebuilding, and in meaning-making.

Professional Disclaimer

Although I am a licensed social worker, Rooted Soul is a coaching practice. Services provided through Rooted Soul are offered solely in a coaching capacity. Rooted Soul provides coaching services and educational support. Coaching services provided through Rooted Soul do not constitute psychotherapy, counseling or mental health treatment. Coaching is designed to support personal growth, faith Integration, embodiment, self-awareness, and intentional movement toward personal goals. Rooted Soul does not provide diagnosis, assessment, treatment of mental health conditions, crisis intervention, or healthcare services. Participation in Rooted Soul services does not establish a client-therapist relationship. If you are experiencing a crisis, please contact local emergency services, 911, or an appropriate crisis resource in your area.