Meet the AW&Y Team
Asha W. Sims (she/her/hers)
Chief Entrepreneurial Officer (CEO)/Clinical Director
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor (LCMHCS), Clinical Hypnotherapist (CH),
Certified Yoga Instructor (E-RYT-200), Reiki Master Teacher (RMT)
Asha W. Sims is a therapist, holistic wellness practitioner, and yogi. She believes in promoting wellness and the prevention of illness through total holistic care. The maintenance of an aligned soul, body, and spirit is the key to healing.
Ms. Sims is the founder and Chief Entrepreneurial Officer of Ashakti Wellness & Yoga PLLC as well as the Clinical Director. As a leading clinician in the field of mental health, she supervises budding wellness practitioners with a keen understanding of the total person. In addition, as a certified Hypnotherapist along with other specializations, Ms. Sims is skilled in assisting with resolving trauma and PTSD. Other areas of her work include smoking cessation, weight loss, stress/anxiety, women & sexual health, and past life regressions.
Asha W. Sims' background in Chakra Therapy allows her to provide a grounded approach. The focus is the integration and balancing of core energy centers that affects development, growth, and mental health.
Aisha Yesher-El (she/her/hers)
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC),
Reiki Practitioner (RP), Dance Instructor, & Certified Yoga
Instructor (CYI-200) in Training
Aisha Yesher-El provides wellness services in the form of holistic therapy as well as integrative care. She treats a multitude of diagnoses in addition to assisting with everyday life transitions. Her areas of specialty include, but are not limited to: Childhood neglect, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant, Trauma/Abuse, Homelessness, and Mood Disorders. Aisha also enjoys providing guidance with life adjustments such as parenting/co-parenting, career development, and spiritual development.
She helps to identify as well as educate on presenting imbalances. Her expertise includes, but is not limited to: Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing, Chakra Therapy.
In addition to being a LCMHC, Aisha is also a holistic wellness practitioner. She incorporates therapeutic expressive arts (i.e. dance, healing sound, and energy work) into her already extensive skillset. Her work helps clients to process unspoken trauma.
Keyayanna Alexander, LMHCA, NCC, RP (she/her/hers)
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate (LCMHCA),Reiki Practitioner 1/2(RP)
Keyayanna is licensed in North Carolina as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate (LCMHCA), certified as a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC), and as a Level I & II Reiki Practitioner by the International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT).
Keyayanna believes that cognitive awareness allows us to understand and navigate the world, while mindfulness reminds us to connect with ourselves, free from interpretation and judgment, and challenges us to "just be." Keyayanna has experience working with a wide range of clients from various backgrounds and ages. She works best with clients wanting help with stress management, relationship issues, goal attainment, motivation, emotional regulation, and self-esteem. She specializes in helping adults reconnect with and challenge themselves using cognitive and mindfulness modalities.
Her experience as a flight attendant developed a special interest in the mental health needs of pilots and flight attendants. This first-hand experience has provided her insight and knowledge to assist flight crew members and other aviation professionals in navigating the challenges presented in the aviation industry.
Shay White-Joseph (she/her/hers)
Physician Assistant (PA), Certified Yoga Practitioner (CYI-200), Reiki Practitioner (RP), Iridology (IP)
Medical Intuitive & Wellness Practitioner
Shay White-Joseph is a Physician Assistant, formerly specialized in Western Medicine, specifically: Internal Medicine, Family Practice, Pediatrics, Urgent Care, and Women’s Health for 17 years. She developed an interest in Naturopathic Holistic Health after recovering from a personal health crisis. Western medicine failed her causing extreme side effects to underlying issues. Her regime included taking many prescription medicines daily for hypertension, congestive heart failure, diabetes, and chronic pain.
The implementation of simple healthier lifestyle choices, research (medical intuition), and her studies (i.e. yoga instruction, reiki practitioner training, iridology practitioner training) offered a stable resolution to her problems. Results were evident in 3-9 months and the overall process was less expensive. A passion for sharing this wealth of love and knowledge was born.
Shay White-Joseph wants to help others seeking more natural, holistic, and organic means of resolving health issues. Her purpose is to improve the quality of life with “health wealth” medical knowledge and holistic measures.
Kiera Butler, Mental Health Coach
Clinical Energy Practitioner/ Medical Cannabis Consultant
Kiera learned about the impact of addiction and stigma due to personal experiences associated with the disease that kickstarted the desire for a career that blended holistic approaches with treating substance abuse.
Her counseling approach and belief is as follows:
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Belief of psychodynamic approach in conjunction to early childhood experiences and the unconscious driving behaviors.
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Belief of humanistic approach in conjunction to the belief individuals possess the qualities they need to flourish, they just need to be nurtured.
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Belief of a mindfulness approach in conjunction to helping individuals learn how to cope and self-regulate when they recognize stressors.
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Belief of a creative approach in conjunction to utilizing expressive methods that incorporate all 5 senses with healing.
Tara Nicole Forman
Licensed Massage Therapist Therapist/Reiki Master
Tara Smith is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Master. She is originally hailing from Buffalo, New York, for the past 20+ years Charlotte, North Carolina has been home. As a Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Master she is always an advocate for total wellness and believe massage therapy is an essential component for a healthy mind, body and spirit. Massage can do many things, including allowing you to relax your mind, restore your body and renew your spirit. This journey towards wellness is vital in helping us become our best selves. As a result she continue to explore other practices within this sector, and am constantly continuing my education within this realm.