Today we’d like to introduce you to Alana Gordon.
Hi Alana, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Some of my earliest memories are of being the kid on the playground giving advice. I was always paying attention—listening closely, noticing patterns, and trying to help people make sense of what they were feeling. Long before I had language for it, I knew I was drawn to people and their inner worlds.
Like many young girls growing up in Utah, I was given a clear message about who I was meant to be: a wife and a mother. I genuinely loved those roles, and for a season, I set aside my own dreams and aspirations to focus fully on my family. I didn’t realize then how much of myself I had placed on pause.
That season was abruptly interrupted by betrayal, and the world I thought I knew collapsed in an instant. I found myself nine months pregnant with my fifth child, without a finished education and without a clear path forward. I remember realizing I had a choice—either let this break me, or use it to grow and build something new.
I dove into therapy during that time, first out of survival, and then with deep curiosity. I learned quickly that there is excellent, life-changing support available—and also harmful help offered by good people who simply didn’t know better. That experience lit something in me. I became determined to do this work in a way that was ethical, trauma-informed, and truly healing.
Once I was grounded enough, I went back to school to finish the degree I had set aside years earlier. I did it with five young kids, a lot of late nights, and a clear sense of purpose—not just for myself, but for others who would one day sit across from me.
In the early years of Choose Recovery, my then-husband and I shared a dream: that we would heal together and show the world what healing could actually look like. And for a long time, we did. We both dove deeply into our own work and shared openly through podcasts, webinars, and sessions with clients. We offered tools, honesty, and hope—and the company grew organically from that place.
But healing doesn’t always lead where you think it will. Many years in, we came to a hard and honest realization: to truly break our relational patterns and generational cycles, we needed to take the next part of our healing journeys separately. That truth was terrifying. Our story—and our business—had been built on hope, on togetherness, and on the belief that healing meant staying.
Choosing to live authentically meant choosing honesty over appearances. We divorced, and I became the sole owner of Choose Recovery Services. We remained close friends, co-parents, and collaborators in navigating life with integrity. What surprised us most was that the hope didn’t disappear—it expanded. People found reassurance in seeing that healing doesn’t require a specific outcome. You can heal together or apart. You can heal even if your partner doesn’t. You can heal even when life doesn’t turn out the way you planned.
All of the healing work we did as a couple mattered—it benefited us then, and it continues to benefit our relationship today. And all of it shaped the company into what it is now: a place rooted in truth, authenticity, and the belief that healing is always possible.
At the heart of my work is this message: never stop healing, and never measure your progress by whether your life matches the story you once imagined.
Today, Choose Recovery Services has grown into a multifaceted healing space that meets people wherever they are in their journey. We offer therapy, one-on-one support, intensives, retreats, webinars, workshops, and ongoing education for both clients and clinicians. Through our podcasts and digital offerings, we’re able to reach people who may not yet be ready—or able—to step into therapy, giving them tools, language, and hope in real time. Everything we create is designed to be practical, trauma-informed, and deeply human, so people don’t have to heal alone or in silence.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Many of the biggest challenges were woven directly into the story itself. Building a company while navigating betrayal, deep personal healing, and the unraveling of a marriage required me to lead while I was still learning how to stand again. There were seasons where clarity came only after a lot of uncertainty and hard conversations.
COVID was another major turning point. We moved almost entirely online overnight, and I remember wondering if people would disconnect or disappear altogether. Instead, we learned how powerful accessible, virtual support could be—and how many people were quietly desperate for help but unable to walk into a traditional office. That shift expanded our reach, but it also forced us to rethink everything we thought we knew about connection and care.
Three years ago, I moved to Utah and essentially had to start over with in-person work in a new state. Rebuilding community, trust, and referral networks from scratch was humbling and slow. It required patience, consistency, and a willingness to begin again without the momentum I had relied on before.
Another ongoing challenge has been the work itself. Supporting individuals and couples navigating betrayal and sexual compulsivity means regularly sitting with shame, grief, and deeply ingrained belief systems. Much of the field still operates from outdated models—approaches that minimize betrayal trauma or rely heavily on shame-based frameworks. Challenging those narratives while offering something more compassionate, trauma-informed, and effective hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been necessary.
Each of these challenges has shaped how Choose Recovery operates today. They’ve reinforced the importance of adaptability, integrity, and staying rooted in what actually helps people heal—even when it goes against the status quo.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Choose Recovery Services is a trauma-informed healing organization dedicated to helping individuals and couples recover from betrayal, infidelity, and problematic sexual behaviors with honesty, compassion, and depth. At our core, we specialize in betrayal trauma recovery and relational healing, using an approach that integrates nervous system regulation, parts work, attachment theory, somatic healing, and lived experience, not just theory or surface-level tools.
What sets Choose apart is the lens we work from. We do not treat betrayal as simply a relationship issue, a moral failing, or a behavior problem to be managed. We work from a trauma model, recognizing betrayal as a profound nervous system injury that impacts safety, identity, and the body. That understanding shapes everything we do, from how we support betrayed partners to how we guide accountability and healing for the individual who acted outside of their integrity.
We also recognize that the person who caused harm needs deep, comprehensive healing as well. At Choose, this work goes far beyond stopping behaviors. We focus on nervous system support, family-of-origin healing, attachment wounds, and trauma work as needed—helping individuals understand not just what happened, but why patterns developed and how to change them at the root. Our approach is both compassionate and accountable, grounded in the belief that real change happens when shame is replaced with understanding and responsibility.
A defining aspect of our work is that it is experiential. We aren’t just teaching skills or offering information, we’re helping people experience what change actually feels like. Through intensives, retreats, workshops, and somatic, body-based practices, clients don’t just learn about regulation, safety, and connection; they feel it in their bodies. Those lived experiences are often what allow long-standing patterns to finally shift and new ways of relating to take hold.
Today, Choose Recovery offers multiple pathways for healing, including therapy and one-on-one support, intensives, retreats, webinars, workshops, and ongoing education. Through our podcasts and digital offerings, we’re able to reach people who may not yet be ready—or able—to step into traditional therapy, giving them language, tools, and hope in a way that feels accessible and human. Everything we create is intentionally designed to meet people where they are and support real, lasting healing.
Brand-wise, what I’m most proud of is our commitment to integrity and depth. We don’t promise quick fixes or one-size-fits-all solutions. Our work is rooted in honesty, lived experience, and clinical responsibility, and we are continually evolving as we learn more about what truly helps people heal.
What I want readers to know most is this: healing is possible, even after deep relational harm. With the right support, people can break generational patterns, rebuild safety, and create relationships rooted in authenticity and connection. At Choose Recovery, our mission is simple—to walk alongside people as they do that work, and to never stop pushing the field toward more compassionate, trauma-informed care.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I always laugh when I think about myself at seven years old, sitting on the balance beam at school, confidently giving advice like I had life all figured out. Even then, I was paying attention to people and wanting to help in whatever way I could.
But some of my favorite childhood memories were much quieter. Whenever I felt sad, overwhelmed, or just deeply introspective, I would go sit inside our oversized rabbit hutch with my bunny rabbits. Being there felt grounding and safe—like I could breathe, think, and connect without having to explain myself. Looking back, it makes sense that even as a child, I was drawn to stillness, connection, and spaces that allowed me to just be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Chooserecoveryservices.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/choose_recovery_services/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChooseRecoveryServices/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therapywithalana/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV9u2xdyQD2m1EuA3cWoJbQ
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/78K1wZmbHPhqAXK3Mo8siN
