Our name is rooted in our mission. While personal growth requires individual commitment, the journey is more powerful (and enjoyable) with community. Coa is short for “Coalesce,” which means “growing together.”
We are taught to optimize every part of life, and mental health should be no different. But while our culture loves a quick fix, our emotional lives are complex and worthy of exploration.
We believe that taking care of your mental health is an ongoing practice. We believe in the value of a live experience with ongoing support. We believe in community empowering each of us to find the strength, resilience, and agency needed to live and feel our best.
At Coa, we are building a home for therapy, emotional fitness classes, and community. A place where connection and self-discovery are valued and accessible.
Welcome to a fresh start for your mental health.
Coa founders, Alexa Meyer and Dr. Emily Anhalt, met in 2018. At the time, Alexa was a product and marketing executive at a startup, feeling burned out and frustrated with the difficulty of finding a therapist. Emily was a clinician and educator, working to bring her expertise in psychology and human relationships outside of the therapy room and into everyday life. Together, they created Coa with their shared belief: the world needs a home for mental health.
Alexa is the Co-Founder & CEO of Coa. After trying to take care of her own mental wellbeing, she was frustrated with the lack of options and asked: “Why isn’t there a gym for mental health?” This sent her on a mission to make emotional fitness as inviting and community-based as physical fitness. She started the first "Mental Health Pop-Up" and helped hundreds of people across the country try therapy. She continues this mission at Coa where she uses her background in start-ups, product, and branding to change how the world thinks about emotional wellbeing. Prior to Coa, Alexa was a VP at a fast-paced tech startup, worked at the world’s largest brand strategy firm, Interbrand, and studied psychology and consumer behavior in Canada (her home country!).
Dr. Emily Anhalt is the Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer of Coa. As a psychoanalytic psychologist, she has spent the past decade working clinically with entrepreneurs, and conducted extensive research about how people can improve their mental and emotional fitness. Frustrated with the quick-fix attitude of mental healthcare in our culture, she wanted to create a mental health solution that honors the complexity of the human condition and the importance of clinical integrity. She has spoken around the world about proactive mental health and emotional fitness, and has collaborated with some of the fastest-growing technology companies and VC firms in the world, including Google, Asana, Github, Unilever, and Bloomberg.
Dr. Vaneeta Sandhu is the Head of Emotional Fitness at Coa where she leads the creation of Coa's class experiences and curriculum. Through her background in clinical psychology and facilitation, she brings an engaging and down-to-earth approach in helping people prioritize mental health through the practice of emotional fitness. With more than 10 years of experience as a clinical psychologist, facilitator, educator, and public speaker, Vaneeta has worked with teams at Lyft, Yelp, Twitter, Reddit, and Dropbox to help managers and executives develop core leadership skills. Her expertise includes principles of behavior change, cross-cultural dynamics, and adult learning.
Create a community-driven movement that is shifting the mental health narrative.
We are building a movement to shift the narrative around mental health & emotional fitness from being something you only do when you're unwell to something you do to build & maintain wellness.
Tackle an urgent and important growing problem in society.
60% of people who experience symptoms of burnout, stress, anxiety, or depression never get access to proper support. We’re working to drive down this number with technology & incredible in-person experiences that remove the friction and stigma around accessing care.
