Meet Nathaly Moreno | Individual and Couples Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nathaly Moreno and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nathaly, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
This is such an interesting question because when I first chose to become a therapist I never saw it as an artistic or creative path. I actually started college preparing for med school, but since I was majoring in psychology I was required to complete a capstone project related to the field. At that time I was going through a lot in my personal relationships and I thought, well, I might as well use science to help me understand what I was experiencing. I read a ton of research, ran a small survey, and put together a thesis. At my final meeting I told my advisor, “With these findings I hope therapists can help couples navigate this better.” She looked at me and said, “Well, you could do that if you wanted.” It was a big decision to switch careers in my last year, but I thought about Nathaly ten years down the line and saw myself being dedicated to building a family, and I knew being a doctor would take a lot of that time away.

It wasn’t until I had my fellowship, after graduation, that I finally understood how much of an art therapy really is. Yes, it is grounded in science and methodology. But the actual work is creation. Every session you sit with someone and you follow, collaborate, explore, and build something together. You learn when to pause, when to speak, when to stay quiet, and how to time an intervention with the rhythm of the person in front of you.

It becomes its own form of artistry. You and the client enter a process that neither of you can fully predict. You make a move, they respond, and something new appears in the space between you. Sometimes you improvise, sometimes you guide, sometimes you simply meet them where they are and move together. There is so much intuition involved.
You show up with skill and tools, but at some point you let go and let the work speak. You follow what emerges, adjust to the unexpected, and create from the shift. That is where the art happens.

I chose this career because I wanted to help people. And like any artist, I hope that what I create with someone moves them, supports them, or gives them something they were needing but didn’t yet have words for.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’m the owner of Clear Mind Therapy in Houston, serving the River Oaks, Garden Oaks, The Heights, and Uptown neighborhoods. I work with creatives, professionals, and high functioning individuals and couples who want to zoom out, understand why they feel stuck, and figure out what actually needs to shift so they can move forward in a way that feels true to them.

A lot of people come in saying, “I know better, so why can’t I do better?” And honestly, that’s one of the most human experiences I see. There is usually more happening underneath the surface than we notice. We all have automatic ways of coping that were shaped by our wiring, our history, our environments, our relationships. So even when we want something different, those old patterns can pull us right back in. It’s like driving home on autopilot and suddenly realizing you don’t remember half the drive. Your brain filled in the blanks because you’ve done it a thousand times.

I always think of the poem “There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk” by Portia Nelson. We keep walking the same internal sidewalks, falling into the same holes, simply because they’re familiar. High functioning people especially are great at pushing through those holes, climbing out, dusting themselves off, and getting right back on the same sidewalk. They’re making life work, sometimes incredibly well, until one day they realize they want more than just keeping things functioning. That moment is the heart of my work.

Did I always think I’d open my own practice? As a kid, yes. I used to pretend I was walking into my office with my little briefcase. But once I became a therapist, I put that dream aside because I wanted to learn. I wanted to be around senior clinicians and absorb everything. I eventually became a senior clinician myself, and it was easy to settle into that comfort.

Then motherhood arrived. And instead of making me want to cling to comfort, it pushed me to ask different questions. Who do I want to be now? What kind of life do I want to model for my daughter? What version of myself do I want her to grow up watching?
So six months postpartum, I opened my practice.

Was it easy? Not at all. And the biggest challenge wasn’t the business side. It was me. I’m a perfectionist and a lifelong procrastinator. The classic “I work best under pressure” person. I was the student writing a full essay the night before and somehow making it great because the pressure quieted the overthinking. You can say procrastination and last minute pressure are my bffs. But when you run your own business, no one is giving you deadlines. No one is waiting on you. There is no external pressure to rescue you from perfectionism.

So I was suddenly face to face with all the patterns I had used for years to stay high functioning. Do I wait until it feels perfect? Do I avoid starting because failing feels too uncomfortable? Do I freeze because the idea of getting it wrong feels too loud? And this wasn’t hypothetical. Even this interview took me a while to start because the part of me that wants everything to land perfectly gets really activated.

That has been the real growth for me. Learning to move without waiting for the pressure. Learning to create without needing everything to be flawless. Learning to start even when I feel the pull to hide behind “I’ll do it later.” It’s uncomfortable, but it’s also the thing that has stretched me the most. And honestly I appreciate it because doing your own work makes you a better therapist. It helps you see your blind spots and understand your clients in a deeper way.

In my practice I am not just looking at symptoms or surface behavior. Yes, we needs band-aids from time to time, but I am here for truly changing your patterns. I’m looking at what got you here, what’s driving the autopilot, and how we can build a path that actually feels aligned with who you want to become.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Ahhh I love this question. One of the things I love most about the city is the food. I’m a big foodie and I love trying new things, but I also love being outdoors, and when those two overlap it feels like heaven.

I would start with a solid outdoor brunch. We’d hit my favorites: Le Jardinier, Backstreet Cafe, Tiny’s No. 5, and Tout Suite in Downtown. Then we’d visit a few museums, slowing down through the Cullen Sculpture Garden and the Glassell School of Art rooftop, which is one of my absolute favorites. I’d also add a walk through Hermann Park and pick a show at the Miller Outdoor Theatre.

For dinners, I’d schedule The Lymbar, Tumble 22 for a legit fried chicken sandwich, and a tasting tour through the restaurants at MKT. And to end with a cherry on top, we’d spend a full day in The Woodlands just soaking up being surrounded by nature.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
You learn so much from your professors in graduate school and later from the colleagues who walk alongside you, and they all deserve a shoutout. But if there is one person who shaped who I am as a therapist, it was my fellowship supervisor Stephanie Baldwin.

Stephanie gave me something you can only receive in a relationship that is solid and safe. She offered unconditional support while letting me discover myself as a clinician. She is incredibly wise, so of course I learned a lot of clinical material from her. But the part that stayed with me the most was her presence. Knowing she believed in me, trusted my intuition, and saw the therapist I could grow into made a real impact. Her presence and her belief in me helped me understand the kind of therapist I wanted to become.

When you think about how people grow, it usually happens most powerfully in the spaces where someone genuinely believes in you. It mirrors what every therapist hopes for their clients. That the compassion and trust we offer becomes something the client can eventually offer themselves. Supervisors play a similar role. They shape how you see yourself and how you show up in the room.

So thank you, Steph. For your guidance, your support, and for seeing something in me at a time when I was still figuring it out.

Website: https://clearmindtherapy.health

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearmindtherapy.health

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathaly-moreno-clearmindtherapy

Image Credits
Melanie Imperio from MI Creative Studio