Trauma Therapist, Sex Therapist and Couple / Relationship Counselor in Colorado

My counseling services are provided via Telehealth (online/video and via phone)–with no in-person appointments. I am licensed as a LPC to work with residents of Colorado only.

Working together from aN INSIGHTFUL, attuned, and CREATIVE approach, I can support you In…

• (Re)establishing physical and emotional intimacy in your relationship(s) where you are currently experiencing disconnection, dissatisfaction, mistrust, resentment, or longing;

• Gently and fearlessly tending to and resolving past relational wounding or sexual trauma that is interfering with your functioning and flourishing;

• Diving into existential/spiritual explorations that can foster a connection to your true nature, clarify how you wish to direct and use your life force energy, and cultivate a sense of freedom and agency in your life.

Caroline Leach, MA, LPC, NCC (Co-Owner)

She/her/hers
I am genuinely interested in people – what hurts, what helps, what works, and what matters. What matters most to you, and are you living in accordance with those values? If not, what are the obstacles that are getting in the way? Do you feel like the master of your own ship, collaborating with the benevolent winds and tides in order to follow your true north? Or do you feel like life is happening to you, blown around by the indifferent and relentless seasons and struggling to read your compass in the storm? My expertise lies in creating an environment of non-judgmental and intuitive deep listening peppered with insightful curiosity and reflections in which you can begin to ask and answer these questions in order to experience more agency in your life and in your relationships. 

I believe lasting and profound change requires more than just talk therapy. As my first therapist wisely told me, knowing is not the same as being. We must learn to speak the language of emotion and the nervous system in order to heal. I am trained in somatic and mindfulness approaches to therapy that can help you to access and rewire your internal world at these levels, which can in turn transform your outer world. 

Very often our wounding happens in relationship and so must also be healed through relationship. The therapeutic relationship can be one place where this kind of healing can happen. Over time, being in an honest, caring, and consistent relationship is like water that slowly, gradually, and gently wears away the stone of our defenses and armor. If you decide to take the brave path of examining and refining your defenses, this does not mean becoming more vulnerable to threat. On the contrary, when we are brittle and rigid, we are easy to hurt. When we are flexible and agile, threat has a much harder time finding a place to land.

When we do not have help creating a coherent narrative around traumatic experiences, we can internalize all sorts of distorted beliefs that in turn shape our sense of self, the relationships we choose, and the situations in which we find ourselves living. Often we are not aware of the ways that we unknowingly co-create and perpetuate these unwanted circumstances, acting from our unconscious and wounded selves rather than our wakeful and healthy selves. What was originally developed as a brilliant adaptation to an unhealthy environment becomes a maladaptive strategy that serves to recreate and maintain these familiar and unhealthy situations. We want to change but we do not know how and we find ourselves encountering the same challenges over and over again, unable to find a way out of this disempowering and frustrating cycle. 

In our sessions, I will support you — or you and your partner — in developing a “witness” such that you can track your thoughts, emotions, and sensations with precision. There is a wealth of information contained in these channels that often operate below the level of awareness. Somatic work can help to restore healthy self-protective responses that have been extinguished through trauma and provide a new experience of safety, balance, confidence, and well-being. It can help you to complete whatever is incomplete so the past can rest in the past instead of dominating your present and dictating your future.

My commitment both personally and professionally is to continually examine my own mind, heart, biases, impulses, defenses, and blindspots. In therapy, I will help you to bring what is currently unconscious into consciousness, working to reflect your patterns back to you in a kind and clear mirror. When we have the courage to see ourselves without defensiveness, we tap into a wellspring of both insight and compassion. When we take responsibility for ourselves, we unleash tremendous power and freedom that is contagious and magnetizing. We discover that we do not need to be afraid of who we are. By learning to discern between habitual reaction and fresh intuition, we recalibrate our compass to point toward true north.

For over a decade, I have trained in mindfulness practices from the Buddhist Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, which strengthen my trust in our inherently sane, wise, and healthy nature as human beings. This nature is like the sun, temporarily obscured by clouds or the earth’s rotation, but ultimately indestructible and brilliant. I am here to be your steady ally and companion along the path, regardless of how frightening, painful, or confusing your experience might be.

I identify as a pansexual, white, chicana, cis-gender woman. I currently live along the spine of mountains and volcanoes above Lake Atitlan, Guatemala with my partner and our two bengal cats. In my free time, I like to play with power tools, creating and building beautiful spaces. Yoga always makes me feel better — though I sometimes have trouble getting myself to do it!

Caroline Leach earned her Master of Arts in Psychology: Contemplative Psychotherapy from Naropa University and completed additional coursework in Sex Therapy at the Buehler Institute. She is currently a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC.0015356) in the state of Colorado, a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and a Certified Mindfulness Meditation and Ashtanga Yoga Instructor. She is trained and practiced in Sex Therapy, Somatic Experiencing for Trauma (SE), Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), and Psychodynamic Theory. 

Caroline is an adjunct faculty member and director of meditation retreats in the Graduate School of Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Naropa University. She has developed graduate and undergraduate curricula for the Royal University of Bhutan and Tergar International that synthesize Eastern and Western approaches to psychology. Caroline designs and delivers professional development for meditation instructors and group facilitators in trauma-informed practice. She is also an Approved Clinical Supervisor, offering case consultation and supervision to other therapists and counselors.

– or, email me –