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

My counseling services are provided both in-person (office in Broomfield) and/or via Telehealth (online/video and via phone). I am licensed as a LPCC to work with residents of Colorado only.

Working together from a somatic, socioculturally attuned, and mindfulness based approach, I can support you with…

• Moving beyond intrusive recurrences of past traumatic experiences such as distressing memories, nightmares, flashbacks or behavioral patterns so that you can engage fully in the life you want to live

• Developing skills and resources that support you to to manage difficult emotions and physical discomfort so that you can feel more capable of caring for yourself when facing distressing situations

• Resolving challenging behavior patterns that leave you feeling dissatisfied and out of alignment with your values and priorities

• Untangling old relational patterns that are holding you back in your current relationships so that you experience a sense of warmth and connection in relationships that are important to you

• Strengthening your capacity for joy, pleasure, and satisfaction that might be hindered by experiences of acute stress

• Cultivating a deeper awareness of your embodiment as a way to foster a robust sense of autonomy and agency in your lived experiences

David Audelo, MA, LPCC

All Pronouns
As a therapist, I support clients who feel stuck and overwhelmed in their lives in ways that feel beyond their control and that have their basis in trauma and past wounding. Traumatic stress can impact every dimension of well being and inhibit us from thriving in the life we wish to lead. Past experiences of an event, loss, or accident can be so formidable that our body and mind react to present moment experience as if the event is still happening. As a result we can feel stuck in a vicious cycle of feeling panicked, overwhelmed, and shut down where it is challenging to feel a sense of hope that anything could be different. When we are living in such distress it is hard to understand why things are happening for us emotionally and even more difficult to determine what we need to feel better. Unresolved trauma can affect us long after the event occurred and can look like acute experiences of stress and anxiety, persistent feelings of ambivalence and lack of clarity about our values and priorities, disconnection from a sense of pleasure in activities that used to spark joy, intense and prolonged psychological distress at internal or external cues that symbolize the traumatic event, difficulty concentrating and putting words to different experiences, and an overall sense of feeling like nobody could possibly understand what has happened to us. Such experiences of traumatic stress can inhibit our capacity to give and receive love in relationships where we find ourselves playing a role that we no longer wish to play rather than expressing ourselves from a place of whole-hearted authenticity. Our sex lives might be impacted where our experience of sexuality is not in alignment with our sense of joy and pleasure. Suffice it to say that the effects of unresolved trauma can leave us feeling stuck and alienated from the life we wish to lead.

In therapy we have the unique opportunity to give voice to those inner wounds that need space to feel seen, heard, and acknowledged. The therapeutic relationships centers around you– what are your hopes, fears, strengths, challenges, fantasies, nightmares; what have you survived in your life and who do you wish to become now that it is over? If the traumatic stressor is ongoing, how do you manage your survival needs, support your health, and maintain relative sanity as you navigate these challenges? Our work together can focus on a specific experience that you would like support around and it can also be about wanting to make changes to some aspects of your life that no longer feel in alignment with who you are now. The healing process is a unique texture of discomfort and excitement where we move beyond old wounds into new possibilities. Together we can practice creating a healing space where you may feel keenly aware of the experience of safety, warmth, and compassion as we journey together in the process of exploring, feeling, and coming to terms with experiences that are important to you. In a therapy session you will experience what it is like to navigate these challenging experiences with a strong and steady sense of compassionate support.

I work with folks of diverse human experiences with regards to the social categories of age, race, ethnicity, gender identification, sexual and romantic orientation, ability, and socioeconomic status and mobility. I think of these social categories as having a critical influence on our significant relational interactions such as our relationships with ourselves, significant others, and even the therapeutic relationship. I work from a perspective of sociocultural attunement, which means that my practice of psychotherapy strives to be aware and responsive to your unique identity, societal context, culture, and experience of privilege and oppression so as to promote increased possibilities as you negotiate your needs and pursue the healing and changes you would like for yourself. I appreciate that not everybody is facing the challenges of today’s world in the same way and I honor how your unique confluence of social identities shapes your lived reality of contemporary life. Together we will collaborate on a path forward that makes the most sense for you. The work that I offer will support you to notice how social conditioning impacts your experience and will invite you to wonder if there are more desirable alternatives that are more in alignment with your values, needs, and desires.

I work often with LGBTQIA+ clients, BIPOC folks, and people with disabilities. I am passionate about working with these communities and I recognize how individuals possessing these social identities might have been pathologized by mental health professionals in the past and thus have a unique and complex attitude towards the therapeutic process. I am familiar with how traumatic stress can manifest as other conditions within these communities and I am experienced in working with individuals who experience body dysmorphia and disordered eating as a result of working through their experience of gender identity, debilitating chronic pain at the experience of occupational or medical microaggressions, intimacy issues that result from feeling unlovable due to frequent debilitating pain episodes, feelings of despair, hopelessness, confusion, and rage regarding having a sexual and romantic orientation that is not visible in dominant society, internalized ableism and feelings of worthlessness due to navigating society at large with a disability, challenges in interracial relationships, acute stress due to persistent systemic trauma, feelings of isolation and shame at experiences of sexual and racialized violence that are frequently invalidated, not commonly discussed or understood, and more.

I am trained in Contemplative Psychotherapy, a modality that supports the cultivation of self-compassion, self-awareness, and the courage to be present in here-and-now experience. This mindfulness based therapy supports trauma work by supporting the integration of unresolved traumatic experience into the present moment where we can process challenging experiences slowly and safely together. I work from a perspective that the present moment offers great capacity for healing. This perspective is informed by modern understanding of the nervous system, neuroplasticity, and ancient Buddhist mindfulness practices. Our work together will acknowledge the complexity of your present moment experiences for all the depths of the challenges you face along with the depths of your innate capacities for joy, wisdom, and resilience. This heightened awareness of the present moment has the powerful capacity to transform your relationship with yourself and with your significant others.

I am currently training in Somatic Experiencing, a modality that facilitates the safe and effective processing of trauma at the bodily level of present moment experience. This therapy is specialized to work with trauma as it manifests on an unconscious level and thus facilitates a way to move beyond traumatic recurrences with minimal risk of reliving the details of the past trauma and retraumatization, which can often occur when discussing old traumatic wounds. I am skilled at incorporating the body, the senses, and imagination in therapeutic work in a way that is highly attuned to your personal level of comfort. This modality applies modern neurophysiology to support the cultivation of a deeper awareness of your embodiment as a way to foster a robust sense of autonomy and agency in your lived experiences. I believe that in tandem Contemplative Psychotherapy and Somatic Experiencing offer the unique opportunity to discover the impermanence of traumatic wounding and the freedom to access creativity and the possibility of fresh options available at each moment.

I have training in psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. While I do not currently facilitate psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, I am available for preparation and integration sessions that are vital for mindful and healing experiences using substances such as psilocybin, ketamine, and MDMA. I view psychedelics as medicines that can support us to find new ways of relating to our old traumatic wounds and of connecting more deeply to our spiritual and ecopsychological dimensions. I have deep respect for the spiritual and cultural traditions from which these medicines are taken and together we can devise an intention, ritual, and setting that can honor the sacredness of the healing work you seek to do. My training supports me to appreciate how these medicines support an experience of neuroplasticity where altered states of consciousness arouse new ways of relating to past experiences of distress. Together we can negotiate this process safely and mindfully where we work to integrate these new experiences into your present moment experience in a way that makes the most sense for you.

Although I am active and committed in my pursuit of learning more about how the mind, body, and spirit can experience healing through various therapeutic modalities, I appreciate that these modalities do not offer universal solutions. My approach as a therapist is to work within the present moment to create a therapeutic experience for you that draws on your strengths and capacities and that is informed by your specific embodiment, social identity, personal history, and personality to support you to address your personal needs, concerns, and goals.

My work as a therapist is informed by my embodied experience as a queer identifying Mexican-American. My experience has taught me to respect that each of us has our own unique social identity, personality, and complex relationship with various cultures as well as with our own body. It is important for me to use my experiences to support others to feel that they can be whoever it is they would like to be in a way that feels safe and that makes the most sense for them. My experience has given me a fierce sense of compassion and commitment to support others as they choose to explore the most painful parts of their psyche in order to become the person they dream to be.

In my daily life I prioritize my connection to activities that make me feel whole such as tending to my plants, staying in touch with loved ones, lifting weights, and experimenting with new activities that invite me ever deeper into my sensory experience. I have a fondness for pop culture and I celebrate the modern intersection of art, fashion, and technology. My spirituality is an important part of my daily life where my practice of meditation connects me deeply to a sense of love and connection with all beings. I am inspired by Greek and German philosophy and I am committed to social justice, collective liberation and modern abolitionist thinking. I have a heartfelt passion for learning about complex trauma and neurobiological approaches to its treatment. I am a licensed massage therapist and am endlessly fascinated by anatomy and physiology and witnessing firsthand the body’s wisdom and intelligence to heal itself after devastating experiences.

David Audelo earned their Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology from Naropa University with additional coursework in psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. David is currently training in Sex Therapy, Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT). They are currently a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate (LPCC.0019500) in the state of Colorado.

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