I work at the level where the real problem lives — in the body, in the patterns, in the stories we inherited and never examined. My training is in Wilderness Therapy from Naropa University, and I draw from somatic practices, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and depth psychology for individual work. For couples, I use Relational Life Therapy as my primary framework, with Gottman Method supporting the process.

The through-line in everything I do: the protection patterns that helped you survive aren't the problem. The problem is that they're still running when you don't need them anymore. We work to loosen those patterns and build something more flexible in their place.

Therapy is different from talking with a friend or family member because you have a completely confidential space, a trained professional helping you see patterns you can't see yourself, and no social cost for honesty. If you're on the fence, the free 15-minute call is the lowest-stakes way to find out.

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if you have questions or would like to arrange a free 20-minute phone consultation.

Men's therapy is individual therapy specifically tailored to how men tend to experience and express psychological distress often through numbness, withdrawal, overwork, irritability, or conflict avoidance rather than visible emotional struggle. Standard therapy models were built mostly around emotional expressiveness. Men often need a different on-ramp.

The men I work with aren't broken. They're often high-functioning, responsible, and genuinely trying. The gap is between the effort they're putting in and the connection they're actually getting. That gap is what we close.

Relational Life Therapy was developed by Terry Real and is the primary framework I use for couples work. Unlike approaches that focus mostly on communication skills, RLT goes directly to the deeper dynamics — the patterns of grandiosity, shame, and disconnection that keep couples stuck even when they're trying hard to communicate.

RLT is direct. It doesn't let either partner off the hook while being compassionate toward both. It's particularly effective when one partner has been emotionally withdrawn and the other has been carrying the relational weight. The goal is full mutual presence, not just fewer arguments.

Nature-based therapy integrates the healing properties of natural environments into the therapeutic process. At Rituals Mental Health, this means trail sessions on Golden's open space trails and half or full-day wilderness intensives in the mountains west of Denver.

Being in nature reduces the nervous system's threat response, making it easier to engage with difficult emotional material. Movement through terrain also helps access somatic awareness that a static office setting often misses. For men who are more comfortable doing than sitting, nature-based work provides a meaningful bridge into the therapeutic process.

Somatic therapy works with the body as a source of information and healing, not just the mind. The premise is that unprocessed emotional experiences are stored in the nervous system and show up as physical patterns: tension, numbness, shutdown, reactivity. Talking about these patterns is useful; working with the body to actually shift them is more lasting.

For many men, the body is where the truth lives long before the mind catches up. Somatic work gives us a way to access that truth without having to intellectualize everything first.