Chuck Hancock in Grey Blazer Outdoors

“We don’t so much solve our problems as we outgrow them. We add capacities and experiences that eventually make us bigger than the problems.”
— CG Jung

I’m passionate about helping people discover, release and move past fear and limitations to discover their true self, true desires and fully experience living their own life. I’ve been stuck, limited, and in pain myself, so I know what it’s like.  I’ve also sought experiences with many people who claimed they had the way or the answers, only to learn they were only promoting “their” way, not helping me discover mine.  There are many “healers” out there today with much less training, experience, or accountability.  As a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in Colorado, with extensive training and experience with trauma and depth psychology, I can help you safely explore deep core issues and find your unique way to journey through the healing process with strength, grace, and true growth.

I identify as a psychotherapist, as my focus is on depth psychology, not short-term symptom-oriented treatment.  It seems like our society may have forgotten that the etymology of the word “psychology” means the study of the soul.  So I consider my role to be a holder of healing container large enough to include and work with all parts of you, including your mind, emotions, body, soul, and all of your relations.  My own healing journey has led me to experiences as a student and client of psychotherapy, dreamwork, bodywork, yoga, meditation, nature-based rituals such as vision quest, sweat lodge, medicine-assisted therapy, and much more.  After brief moments of thinking, each one of these things was the best thing ever and the medicine everyone needed. The truth is that all modalities have value at different times in our lives, and the healing container has to be big enough to include it all.  For major issues, we don’t solve them; we grow larger than them.  There is evidence to suggest that a depth-oriented approach helps us do that.  Where many therapists focus on learning skills or tools to reduce symptoms, I take the long view for longer-lasting change.  Not just feeling better now (though that certainly does happen), but depth-oriented therapy  “…sets in motion psychological processes that lead to ongoing change, even after therapy has ended.”  My goal is to help you be the expert in and leader of your own life. 

Give a [person] a fish, and you feed [them] for a day. Teach a [person] to fish, and you feed [them] for a lifetime. ~proverb

Before becoming a psychotherapist, I worked in corporate, public education, and higher education.  I never found my fit, and I struggled to feel connected in the world.  I thought I was successful, but I was self-medicating with alcohol, technology, and other distractions.  Don’t get me wrong, I was successful on the surface – a great, valued employee – but I felt sad, hopeless, isolated, and alone.  Not just in my professional life, but with friends and romantic relationships as well.  As a former software engineer, I have found how this vulnerable world of emotions is actually logical and is an important message to help us start our growth.

It’s extremely important for me to create open, authentic relationships with my clients to help  them through personal, career or life struggles. Not just because it feels good, but research suggests out of the thousands of ways to do therapy, the quality of relationship is the best predictor of a good outcome.

My sessions are about opening up and exploring the truth of what is, both conscious and unconscious, your shadow and your brilliant gold.  My approach is much more dynamic and experiential than a traditional counselor. I utilize present-moment awareness and experiential exercises to move beyond talk.  I also like to incorporate time outdoors as part of therapy and treatment if clients are open to it, and I find it’s a very effective tool in shifting perspective and inspiring new thought patterns.  I’ve had extensive experience apprenticing with indigenous traditions of North and South America, have trained in pan-cultural rites of passage with School of Lost Borders, and trained in West African ritual with Malidoma Some – all of which has taught me how to make human experience and nature connection culturally relevant to whatever cultural, ethnic, philosophical, or spiritual tradition resonates best with you.

So much of our process is unconscious.  What we do, what we don’t do, what we think, what we don’t think, what we feel, and more are all influenced by past experiences.  When people are mindful of their experience, their choices, the reasons behind those choices, and how they impact the bigger picture of life, it’s the key that unlocks everything else. This is the focus of my counseling philosophy – helping people develop an open, honest relationship with themselves to find clarity, which is critical for creating a fulfilling life. And I wouldn’t be able to connect with the challenge of the personal path in order to help others if I hadn’t walked a similar path myself. It’s why I’m so passionate about the tools and methods I use.

During my downtime, I love practicing yoga, meditation, guitar, and other contemplative practices such as hiking, trail running, African Drum and Dance, kayaking, nature-based work, and ritual. Each discipline has been an important part of my life and helps shape the creative elements of my practice. I’m also very much still on my personal growth path studying men’s issues, gender issues, dream work, sexuality, relationship, self-expression, and more through my own therapy, a men’s group, spiritual practices, and most importantly, through the intentional parenting with my long time partner, Kelly.

Qualifications and Work Experience

I am registered with the State of Colorado as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC-11179).  Above and beyond my graduate school training (Master’s Degree in Education from Colorado State University, with a specialization in Counseling and Career Development – a CACREP accredited counseling program), I have studied over 5 years of intensive supervised training and teaching in the Hakomi Method of Experiential Psychotherapy, a mindfulness based, experiential somatic (body) centered therapy. I was a teaching assistant for the Hakomi institute, where I taught and supervised other therapists learning to do mindfulness based depth oriented experiential work and for the past several years I have been in Jungian based psychotherapy training. I am a MAPS trained therapist and supervisor/consultant who worked on the Phase 3 clinical trials for MDMA assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of severe PTSD and I also have training in IFS (Internal Family Systems), psychodrama, and I am an EMDR trained practitioner using evidence based methods to help people heal from the effects of trauma. I’m a student of life and personal growth – I am constantly continuing to learn attending trainings focusing on relationship, attachment, ego state/parts work, archetypal psychology, dream work, experiential, and nature based work to stay current and learn new skills. I’ve completed several years of training in Jungian-oriented psychoanalysis, including completing the Jungian Psychology in Clinical Practice Certificate Program from the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles, and I’m currently an Analyst in Training with the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association of New York.  

For over a decade now, I’ve been counseling people individually, in relationships, and leading groups on a wide variety of topics to help more effectively deal with the pain, suffering, and the ebb and flow of life including dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, moods, relationships, career issues, workplace situations, and using life’s challenges to learn, grow, and find overall meaning, purpose, balance, and alignment in life.

In addition to the work in my private practice, I also have experience with emergency room crisis counseling with UC Health and have facilitated for Outward Bound Professional working with companies and organizations on personal growth, team building, group dynamics, organizational development, leadership, community and relationship building.  I am currently building an exclusively nature based coaching program with Reconnecting to Our Nature.

“We must follow nature as a guide, and what the doctor then does is less question of treatment than of developing the creative possibilities latent in the patient [them]self.” -C.G. Jung

For additional information on my specific experience and to see what others have said about working with me, please review my LinkedIn Profile and/or you can review my CV. To set up an appointment, please contact me at [email protected] or (970) 829-0478.

I’ve created a podcast that helps people connect with the meaning, relevance, and wisdom from their own life experiences.  And I share a few of my experiences as well.  Give a listen to the My Life is the Medicine Podcast. Many of my clients who listen have found it helpful to hear other people’s stories and reflect on how their own story is similar, or different, but just as meaningful and profound too!

For the past several years, my private practice has been full.  However I do maintain a wait list for clients that would benefit from my experience and approach.  The wait is usually 6-8 weeks, but can be more.  If this works for you and feel this could be a good fit, please reach out.  I look forward to meeting when the time is right!