We've been walking for some time to write about who we are. Who is The Therapist? If you are on this website, you may know that we are a natural and conscious restaurant, a functional nutrition clinic, a lab with workshops and talks and a grocery store with our products.
But who is The Therapist at its core and how did it come about?
Talking about The Therapist without introducing myself is difficult. My name is Joana Teixeira and I am the founder of The Therapist. This incredible journey began more than a decade ago when I had a skin problem that I only resolved with a drastic change in my diet and way of life. At the time I worked in multinationals in the area of mass consumption and led a very stressful life, I wasn't careful with my diet at all, I didn't practice sports and, in fact, I felt good. The problem was when it started to reflect on my skin. I consulted several dermatologists and after months and months of chemical treatments, I turned to Chinese medicine. The diagnosis was immediate and the results of the herbal treatments and acupuncture began to be visible after a month. I realized that at the time there was a need for a space that combined food, knowledge and therapies and that's how the idea of creating The Therapist began.
In 2017, the first Therapist opened at the end of the street at LxFactory. The early days were challenging (just not to say horrible). I had been a mother recently, my son was 7 months old when we opened and as I didn't know what the future held for this project, we started with a very small team that wasn't enough for everything. After about a year and a half I had my first panic attack. The deal reflected my state of mind and we were just about to close. But we continued. I decided that to continue I would have to find a team that reflected The Therapist's values and today I can say that we did it.
In 2019 we opened the second The Therapist near Amoreias and in January 2020 the third at The Hood. We closed both restaurants last year and got back to basics with only the original Therapist at LxFactory.
In 2021 we will have many good surprises that I will share in the next few days.
Stay tuned!
