Alissa was born and spent most of her childhood right here in Montana. Hailing from small town Townsend, she eventually lived with her father in her mid-teenage years in Wyoming, where she joined the U.S. Army at eighteen, enlisting as a non-commissioned Military Police Officer and later a Protective Service Agent. After five years of active-duty service, Alissa decided to prioritize higher education. This led to the pursuit and completion of her Bachelor’s in Child and Family Studies with a Minor in Psychology in 2016 from Louisiana State University. During this time, Alissa served a year in the Army Reserve as a Military Police Instructor. She left the Reserve and joined the Army National Guard when she decided to pursue her Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) at the University of Montana. While working towards her MPA, Alissa was employed as a Deputy Clerk of Court at the District Court in Helena, where she met her one day husband while filing paperwork at the court. Instead of walking during the graduation ceremony for her MPA, Alissa and Gavin married in May of 2018 and left Montana once again, so Gavin could begin his career as a Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Army. During her masters, Alissa concluded eight years of military service to her country and in her first year of marriage, had her son, Vincent. After four years of active-duty service, Gavin (a Montana Native as well) and Alissa missed home and wanted to set down roots for their son. In 2021, Alissa returned to Helena with her family. Upon returning, one of her most memorable moments was being confirmed and her son baptized into the Catholic faith at the Cathedral of St. Helena in April 2022. Along the way, as a stay-at-home mom, Alissa became increasingly intrigued by the interplay of behavior and money. To assuage her curiosity, she pursued her certification in money coaching and operated her own business coaching clients. She quickly learned coaching simply wasn’t enough. Since money mismanagement doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it became increasingly clear there was more to people’s money story than simple financial illiteracy. She decided to return to school and earned her Master of Clinical Social Work from Carroll College in May of 2026 and became a Certified Financial Social Worker. Alissa joined CSSM to further her specialization in Financial Therapy as a professional Clinical Social Worker and to help her community through the understanding of how emotions and money patterns impact one’s ability to be responsible stewards money. In addition to financial therapy, Alissa has significant experience working with children who possess neurodevelopmental disabilities such as Autism, including adult autism, Pervasive Drive for Autonomy (PDA), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and other common neurodevelopmental disorders. She is also a Certified Premarital Facilitator equipped to administer research-based relationship inventories to identify strengths, build communication skills, and navigate conflict areas prior to marriage.
Gavin, Alissa, Vincent, and their two Doodles (Caspian and Rilian), thoroughly enjoy exploring the wild lands of the Big Sky through camping and hiking excursions. Alissa enjoys reading a good mystery, any books pertaining to Catholicism and God, and being around a good group of friends and her family. She can also talk about the inexplicable nature of dog’s intuition, especially that of doodles, for hours!