Meet Allie VanLuyk, Functional Family Therapist

Read time: 2.5 minutes

For nearly three years, Alexandra “Allie” VanLuyk has brought compassion, curiosity, and deep respect into the homes of Together for Youth families. Her path to the field began unexpectedly, but the work quickly became a calling – one shaped by her own life experiences, her academic interests, and her desire to support others in meaningful and authentic ways.

Journey to Family Therapist

Allie’s path to becoming a therapist began unexpectedly. While studying dental hygiene in college, she found herself captivated by courses in abnormal psychology and human sexuality. The combination opened her eyes to the world of mental health, and she realized she wanted to spend her life supporting people through their most vulnerable moments.

Before joining Together for Youth, Allie worked in substance abuse counseling. She cared deeply for her clients, but the fast-paced, punitive structure left her feeling disconnected from the kind of relational work she wanted to do.

When she saw an opening for family therapy with Together for Youth, she felt drawn to the opportunity to work with entire family systems and build meaningful, long-term relationships. Allie’s parents have always been her biggest cheerleaders, so for her, this wasn’t just a shift in her work – it represented an opportunity to pay that support forward.

A Deep Honor in Every Home

Allie describes her work with families as one of the greatest privileges of her life. Every family she meets teaches her something – about resilience, culture, identity, and the many ways people navigate systems that have not always supported them. Being welcomed into homes across different backgrounds has profoundly shaped her understanding of community and connection. She often reflects on how meaningful it is to sit on a family’s couch, hold their babies, pet their dogs, and share in both their celebrations and their challenges.

Her work has also expanded her awareness of the systemic barriers families face. Seeing these realities up close fuels her commitment to helping families advocate for themselves and build confidence in their own strengths.

Inspired by the Next Generation

What motivates Allie most is the young people she works with, seeing their generation as bright, outspoken, and deeply aware of the world around them. Many of the youth she supports know exactly what they want but struggle to express it in ways adults will hear. Helping them find their voice – and use it – is one of the most rewarding parts of her job, and experiencing moments when students organize, speak up, or stand for their beliefs remind her why this work matters.

A Team That Feels Like Family

Allie speaks with enormous gratitude for her TFY team, having found a level of support she’s never experienced in previous workplaces. She often says that to be known is to be loved, and she feels deeply known by her team. They celebrate her accomplishments, show up for one another on tough days, and create an environment where everyone feels valued. After past experiences in unsupportive work settings, the difference has been transformative.

Life Beyond Work

Outside of her role, Allie enjoys a cozy, creative life. Her closest friends live right across the street, which she considers one of the greatest gifts in her daily life. She crochets, plays Fortnite with friends, spends time with her cat, and is an avid reader with a particular love for books by Black authors, stories of women resisting oppressive systems, mysteries, and classics.

Advice for Future Therapists

For those entering the field, Allie encourages therapists keep in mind the profound trust families place in their therapists. She believes it’s essential to stay grounded in gratitude for that trust, even on the hardest days. She also reminds new clinicians that meaningful change often happens in small, steady steps – and that those steps matter.

She views self-care not as surface-level pampering but as deep self-growth and reflection. She often asks herself whether she is becoming the person her younger self would be proud of, and that guiding question helps her stay grounded, compassionate, and committed to the work.