Theresa Moore has been practicing psychotherapy for more than four decades in San Antonio, Texas. When she began her career, therapy as we know it today barely existed. It was often misunderstood, stigmatized, or reserved for crisis alone. Over time, Theresa grew alongside the profession, helping shape a more compassionate, relational, and embodied approach to healing.

It didn’t start with a plan to be a therapist

Theresa went to college with practicality in mind. After her parents divorced, she watched her mother struggle financially without a degree. That experience left a deep impression.

“I wanted a degree that would let me support myself,” she explains. “That mattered.”

She began her studies at a small private college, originally focused on foreign languages and dreaming of a future working at the United Nations. Therapy was nowhere on her radar. Still, her curiosity kept pulling her in a familiar direction. She found herself drawn to psychology courses, fascinated by relationships, emotions, and what makes people react the way they do.

“Human beings are fascinating,” she laughs.

When the registrar eventually told her she needed to declare a major, the answer surprised even her. She already had enough credits in psychology and without quite planning it, she had already found her path.

Theresa graduated in 1975 with a degree in psychology and minors in Portuguese and Spanish. But even with a degree in hand, becoming a therapist felt daunting. Therapy still carried a lot of stigma and misconceptions, and she worried deeply about the responsibility of holding others’ pain for a living.

Growing into the role

Theresa eventually pursued a master’s degree in social work and spent several years working at a pastoral care and counselling center before opening her own private practice in the early 1980s. Since then, she’s been in private practice for more than 40 years.

But longevity alone doesn’t define her practice. What stands out in Theresa’s story is her willingness to grow alongside her clients.

“I’ve spent most of my adult life in therapy,” she shares. “If I wasn’t willing to grow and change, how could I ask my clients to do the same?”

That commitment to self-work helped shape the therapist she became. Over the years, her practice evolved from traditional cognitive and family systems approaches to include somatic and relational work that honours the body as much as the mind.

From head to heart: a turning point

A pivotal moment came unexpectedly while working with a horse during equine facilitated therapy training. “Something dropped from my head to my heart,” she recalls. “I felt it in my body. It was quick, clear, and it was really life-changing.”

What stayed with her wasn’t the session itself, but how different it felt from traditional talk therapy. There was very little discussion or analysis involved. The change happened physically, not intellectually. For Theresa, it confirmed the value of a therapeutic approach that includes the body as part of the healing process.

“It’s not just about insight,” she says. “It’s about healing the cellular part too.”

Remembering what’s already there

Today, Theresa primarily works with women ages 25 to 75, supporting clients through anxiety, depression, trauma, and relational challenges. Her work is grounded in the belief that wisdom isn’t something clients need to acquire. It already lives within them.

“We come in with so much wisdom,” she explains. “But it gets covered up early.”

Theresa believes that life experiences, unmet needs, and survival strategies can bury that inner knowing under layers of coping and self-protection. Her role, she says, is not to tell clients who to be, but to help them uncover what’s already there by listening, validating their stories, and gently identifying patterns that no longer serve them. For Theresa, true healing begins when clients can meet themselves with compassion and recognize how past experiences have shaped both how they think and how their bodies respond.

The importance of feeling safe

From the very first session, Theresa reminds her clients that this is their life and their process. “Choice gives permission,” she says. “It takes people out of feeling trapped.”

That approach extends into the therapeutic relationship itself. For Theresa, holding space for clients is an honour, especially for those who have never experienced a relationship where their emotions were truly welcomed.

“Listening to someone’s story and offering safety, that takes courage on their part,” she says. “It’s an honour to witness that.”

After decades of practice, what she treasures most is not outcomes or techniques, but the relationships. The moments where contradictions soften, where tenderness and strength learn to coexist, and where people begin to trust themselves again.

A message rooted in hope

When asked what she would say to someone standing at a difficult transition point in life, Theresa doesn’t hesitate. “There’s always hope,” she says. “No matter how hopeless we feel.” She encourages gentleness over self-judgment, reminding people that the harsh inner narratives so many carry are learned and can be unlearned. Reaching out for support, she believes, is not weakness. It’s an act of courage and faith. “It takes faith to walk into a therapist’s office,” she says. “It takes faith to let someone witness your struggle.”

That belief in the courage of reaching out underpins everything Theresa does.

Still showing up

More than 40 years into her career, Theresa still loves her work. She continues to practice, learn, and listen, guided by curiosity and a profound respect for the human experience.

She’s also appreciative of the support that happens behind the scenes, valuing systems that feel human and responsive. After decades of using tools and platforms that felt difficult to navigate and isolating, Theresa transitioned her practice to Jane. What stood out most wasn’t just the technology, but the people behind it. “I’ve never had anyone who wasn’t pleasant or willing to help,” she shares. “Every time I’ve called, I’ve felt supported.”

Using Jane, she’s felt consistently supported by people who take the time to help, which makes it easier for her to stay focused on the work she loves and continue showing up for her clients. “I was born with a passion for people,” she reflects. “I love watching how we struggle, grow, and evolve. How the contradictions become friends instead of enemies.”

Resources

• Connect with Theresa Moore through her website

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