Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Johnson.
Hi Ashley, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Rebuilding Connection, One Relationship at a Time
I didn’t take a straight path to becoming a therapist or a business owner. Before opening my private practice, I spent years working in community mental health, crisis services, and substance use treatment, eventually moving into leadership and clinical supervision roles. The work was meaningful, but over time I felt called to create something that reflected my own values and vision more fully.
In January 2026, I left the security of a stable clinic position and launched Intimacy Reset full-time- a private practice focused on helping couples reconnect, communicate more effectively, and create relationships that feel deeply fulfilling. Starting over was both exciting and terrifying. I didn’t have a packed caseload waiting for me. What I did have was a belief in the work and a willingness to build one relationship at a time.
Over the next several months, I met with nearly a hundred therapists, medical providers, and community members throughout Bend and beyond, often over virtual coffees, simply to connect and learn about the people doing good work in my community. Those conversations became one of the foundations of my practice and reminded me that meaningful relationships are at the heart of everything we build.
Today, I continue to grow Intimacy Reset while helping couples create deeper connection, strengthen communication, and build relationships that feel fulfilling and resilient. Looking back, the biggest lesson has been that growth rarely follows a straight line. The moments that felt most uncertain often became the ones that led me exactly where I was meant to go.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Leaving a stable job to start a private practice meant stepping away from a predictable paycheck and into a lot of uncertainty. There were days when I questioned myself, wondered if I had made the right decision, and had to keep moving forward without knowing exactly how things would unfold.
One of the biggest challenges was learning patience. We often hear stories about overnight success, but most meaningful things are built slowly. When I opened Intimacy Reset, I didn’t have a long waitlist of clients. There were stretches where I had no consults coming in and found myself putting in 80-hour weeks focused entirely on building the practice. I was sending introduction emails, creating mailers, making phone calls, holding free workshops, networking, and looking for every opportunity to connect with my community. It was a tremendous amount of effort without any guarantee of immediate results.
Instead of focusing solely on finding clients, I focused on building genuine relationships. Over the course of several months, I met with nearly a hundred therapists, medical providers, and community members over coffee, learning about their work and looking for ways to support them. Those relationships eventually became one of the foundations of my practice, but they took time, consistency, and trust.
At the same time, I feel incredibly fortunate that I wasn’t doing it alone. I had close friends and peers—truly beautiful souls—who believed in me, encouraged me, and helped me keep going when things felt uncertain. Their support made all the difference.
The experience taught me to focus less on immediate results and more on consistent action. Looking back, the moments that felt the most uncertain were often the moments when the most important growth was happening. Building a business has required courage, humility, and a lot of trust, but it’s also been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Intimacy Reset was created from a simple belief: relationships deserve proactive support, not just crisis intervention. Too many couples wait until they feel disconnected, stuck, or exhausted before seeking help. I wanted to create a structured, accessible process that helps couples reconnect before they reach a breaking point.
As a woman-owned private practice based in Bend, Oregon, I specialize in helping high-functioning couples strengthen communication, deepen emotional intimacy, rebuild trust, and create more fulfilling relationships. My signature offering is the Intimacy Reset, an eight-week structured couples program designed to help partners move from frustration and disconnection toward clarity, connection, and lasting change. Rather than open-ended therapy, couples move through a clear roadmap with practical tools, guided conversations, and actionable exercises they can immediately apply in their daily lives.
What sets my work apart is that I combine the depth of traditional therapy with the structure of a proven program. Couples often tell me they appreciate having both emotional support and a concrete framework for growth. My goal isn’t simply to help people talk about their relationship—it’s to help them create a relationship they genuinely enjoy being in.
Brand-wise, I’m most proud of building Intimacy Reset from the ground up in a way that reflects my values. Every workshop, resource, workbook, referral relationship, and client experience has been intentionally created with the belief that connection matters. At its heart, Intimacy Reset is about helping people feel seen, understood, and chosen by the person they love.
If there’s one thing I want readers to know, it’s that healthy relationships aren’t something we’re lucky enough to stumble into—they’re something we can learn, practice, and intentionally create. My work is dedicated to helping couples do exactly that.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My biggest piece of advice is to focus on relationships before results. When you’re starting out, it’s easy to become consumed by numbers, growth, and whether things are happening quickly enough. What I’ve learned is that meaningful businesses are built through meaningful relationships.
I would also encourage people to market in a way that feels authentic to who they are. Early on, I thought I needed to follow traditional marketing advice, but I found the most success when I leaned into my own personality and strengths. Whether that was creating comics, having coffee with colleagues, hosting workshops, or showing up as myself—sometimes even in a backwards baseball cap—the things that resonated most were the things that felt genuine. People connect with authenticity far more than perfection.
If I could go back and tell myself one thing, it would be this: trust the process longer than feels comfortable. Many of the opportunities, referrals, collaborations, and invitations that exist in my life today came from seeds that were planted months earlier. At the time, it often felt like nothing was happening. Looking back, a lot was happening beneath the surface.
Finally, don’t try to do it alone. One of the greatest gifts in my journey has been the support of close friends and peers. Building something meaningful takes courage, but it also takes connection. Let people support you.
Pricing:
- Complimentary 15–20 minute consultation call
- Individual Therapy: $180 per 60-minute session
- Couples Therapy: $230 per 60-minute session
Contact Info:
