THERAPY THAT WORKS
We offer a variety of counseling services to help you and your family thrive
We've witnessed and truly believe that accessible, quality therapy changes lives and sets people on a more hopeful, clear path.
We can help get you there. Take a look at our services below to see the many ways we can support you on your journey.
Our Services
Click the links below to learn more
Individual Counseling
Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, shame, suicidal ideation, addiction, trauma, loss, or grief? It might be that you're simply having a tough time adjusting to a challenging relationship(s), work, school, or other life stressors? Here at Hope Mountain Behavioral Health, your trained, caring therapist will listen to your story and, together, you will formulate a treatment plan to change unhelpful behaviors, thoughts, and ease depression, anxiety, or whatever else may be holding you back from fulfilling your life goals.
At Hope Mountain, we believe you are more than a label. We believe anxiety, depression, shame, suicidal ideation, addiction, trauma, loss, or grief are symptoms, not identities. Symptoms that with the right help, hard work and a bit of time can become easier to cope with or be relieved entirely. Your therapist will guide you on a self-discovery journey. Where you will get to the root of your challenges and understand yourself, the people around you, and the world in a much deeper way. With this new insight, you'll become the one who decides what your future journey looks like.
Family Counseling
No two families are the same. The family dynamic is made up of several moving parts. Family behavioral patterns, communication styles, and unspoken rules are all different from one family to the next. At Hope Moutain, we believe families are sacred. Strong families are what solid communities are made of.
Family counseling starts by targeting what needs to change. After this is established you and your therapist will use those objectives as an anchor point. From there, your therapist will use various proven family therapy methods/techniques to work to keep the sessions focused on helping change occur.
Family counseling with one of our trained therapists can help the whole family learn new, healthier ways to resolve problems and prevent future challenges from spiraling out of control.
Family counseling is both powerful and life-changing. It can be the sole treatment or can be used in conjunction with other forms of counseling.
Blended Families
Times have changed and as a result, we have more blended families than ever. One source says that “approximately 2,100 blended families form in the United States every day.” That’s a lot of potential for distrust, misunderstandings, emotional flare-ups, and misdirected anger or fear. Here at Hope Mountain Behavioral Health, we understand that blending two families as one is...well...TOUGH!
Rest assured though, we’ve learned and honed methods/techniques that make the transition smoother. We understand the pitfalls and how to make it through them. (For example, oftentimes one of the step-children and their biological parent will feel left out or like the others in the family are not being fair with them. After the open discussion, a little clearing of the air, and some new communication skills, relationships improve and true healing ensues).
Previous clients have said that family therapy for blended families can be “powerful and truly transformative.” It’s almost a given that blended families will have struggles. We heard it said that a third of marriage/family problems cannot be solved. We've learned that the difference between healthy and unhealthy families is that healthy families learn to adapt to and embrace differences, not use them as weapons. Let's be real (that's all you'll get with us), if you do nothing your struggles are sure to get worse. Contact us today to begin the change that could keep your family together and strong!
Teen Issues
It’s no secret that the teen years can be some of the toughest. Adolescents have to overcome many social and learning obstacles in addition to their bodies and emotions going through some pretty radical changes. At Hope Mountain Behavioral Health we tailor therapy to each teen and their specific needs. It’s an honor to us as we work to teach your teen about healthy coping, emotional regulation, responsibility, and healthy communication skills.
Whether they’re struggling with depression, anxiety, RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder), addiction, body image issues, bullying, anger, cutting, or other forms of self-mutilation, we are here to help. Together (we often include parents in treatment) we will identify areas of change, form a plan of recovery, and take the necessary action to point them in a new direction.
Suicide Prevention
It’s no secret that the suicide rate in Colorado is considerably higher than in most states. Bullied teens, traumatized soldiers, homelessness, drug addiction, poverty, abuse, and neglect all feed into the dilemma. It’s been said that suicide “is a permanent solution to a temporary problem(s).” The challenge is that this permanent solution often seems the only way out because of the natural isolating behaviors of those suffering from suicidal ideation (SI). At Hope Mountain Behavioral Health we believe SI is a disorder/disease not much different than say diabetes, cancer or heart disease. And like these illnesses, SI is treatable, if caught in time.
We believe that if we can catch mental illness and begin treating it before it turns into a crisis, there is a high probability that the person can avoid suicide attempts altogether. Be kind to yourself, there are a lot of people just like you (or your loved one) who’ve felt alone, afraid, trapped, forgotten, misunderstood, and have gotten help and went on to lead beautiful lives (I, Jeff Mowery, am one of them).
If you suspect someone is suicidal, do not hesitate to ask them. Contrary to popular belief, asking doesn’t “make” them want to hurt themselves. You or they can call:
SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE: 988
COLORADO CRISIS & SUPPORT LINE: 1-844-493-TALK
These numbers are also text messages accessible for those who don’t feel comfortable talking to someone on the phone. And, of course, you can always call 911 in the event of an emergency.
Some helpful screenings/resources are available at mentalhealthcolorado.org. On the Resources tab select Screenings. There are mental health screenings for both parents and youth.
If you need more intensive therapy you can call:
SAMHSA’S NATIONAL HELPLINE: 1-800-662-HELP
Also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service, SAMHSA is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Callers can also order free publications and other information.
Trauma & Neglect
Trauma and neglect are ever-increasing challenges faced by many Hope Mountain clients. When our co-founder was recently asked why he was reading a book on trauma. With little hesitation, he replied, “because a lot of people are trying to overcome it and I need to constantly keep myself prepared for the journey with them.”
Confronting trauma and neglect takes a mountain of courage and we’re no strangers to this. At Hope Mountain Behavioral Health we work hard every day to create an environment safe enough for you to unfold and face your past bit-by-bit with trust and confidence. We are guides to healing. We’ve found freedom of our own and have been trained to help others do the same.
While we can’t change what happened to (or didn’t happen for) you, we can certainly teach/help you to learn to cope with and manage the overwhelming emotional aftermath it caused. The sensations, memories, disruptive physical reactions, disturbing thoughts, and controlling behaviors are all aspects we can work with. We can’t change the trauma, but we can affect the outcome by helping you make your peace with it. Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk says it best, “the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going on inside ourselves.”
After treatment of trauma and neglect, many clients report that the self-confidence, playfulness, spontaneity, and inspiration they had as a child, returns. Research demonstrates that the sooner we treat trauma and neglect, the better the outcome.
“As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally at war with yourself” — Bessel Van Der Kolk
Grief & Loss
Loss can create a huge hole in a person’s life. Loss of a loved one, a job, a home, a friend, a way of life can all create a crushing sense of grief. Your trained counselor at Hope Mountain Behavioral Health will gladly and methodically walk with you on your journey to healing from these kinds of losses.
Our team at Hope Mountain understands that the above are not the only types of losses people have to grieve. We understand too that there are losses associated with giving up negative behavior(s) that have to be grieved as well. For example, if a person stops drug abuse, or stops pretending to be ill, they will have to grieve what the drug or negative behavior did for them. After all, who would continue to do something that didn’t do anything for them? There is almost always a payoff. For the addict, when they stop, it might be a sense of comfort, creativity, or energy they lose. For the person who's faking an illness, when they stop, they may lose the attention of others, the comfort of others, or the security of a constant check. We will help you with these kinds of losses too.
Regardless of the type of loss and grief, you're experiencing, your therapist will gladly work hard to help you remove obstacles to growth and to create a safe and secure environment for change to take place.
Addiction
Addiction is ruthless. And it can feel as though there's no way out of its relentless grip. Our team at Hope Mountain Behavioral Health knows that this doesn’t have to be the case. Many sources have said that “drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 50.” Ritchie Farrell of the Huffington Post says, “4,367 Americans die every month from an accidental overdose of heroin. That’s right, 144 people will die today from an accidental overdose of opioids.”
And I don’t think any of us can deny the effect drugs have on our communities: poverty, homelessness, higher dependence on welfare, higher incarceration rates, productivity loss, medical costs, to name a few. Addiction can be deadly. But you don't have to be one of the ones who fall prey to its lies, seductions, and deceptions.
Here at Hope Mountain, we take addiction seriously. Personally, most of us know what it’s like to either be addicted or love someone who is. We want to help lower the number of addiction casualties Colorado faces every day. Please don’t hesitate to ask/mention/discuss addiction with us. If we can’t help you, we will happily aid you in finding someone who can. Of course, some of us here at Hope Mountain are trained in addiction treatment, but if you need more intense, addiction treatment you can call one of the numbers below.
If you need immediate help finding a treatment/detox center you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Callers can also order free publications and other information.
LOCAL COLORADO DETOXES AND TREATMENT FACILITIES:
The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake - 443 S. Hwy 105, Palmer Lake, CO 80133
Peaks Recovery Center - 2270 La Montana Way, Colorado Springs, CO 80918
Contact: (855) 430-8630
Sandstone Care - 2100 S Cherry St #204, Denver, CO 80222
Contact: (720) 903-3538
Anxiety & Depression
At some point in everyone’s life, they feel anxious or depressed. After all, these are emotions that can be helpful (anxiety keeps us from jumping off cliffs and depression can serve to prevent multiple wounds from overwhelming our emotional system). Still, many people are puzzled when it comes to the difference between ordinary “sadness” and clinical depression. Likewise, most people don’t understand the difference between normal “worry” and an anxiety disorder. One thing's certain when evaluating either potentially debilitating emotion; if they’ve become unmanageable with our current support and/or skill structure, it may be time to seek out professional help.
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. - Joseph Campbell”
Unhelpful Anxiety
Helpful anxiety keeps us safe. It becomes unhelpful when it keeps us too safe. The anxiety that keeps you between the lines while driving or keeps you from jumping off a cliff, is helpful anxiety. When this same anxiety becomes overwhelming and/or misdirected and/or keeps you from driving or going anywhere near a cliff, it’s become unhelpful.
Questions to help you decide if you’re a good fit for anxiety-focused therapy:
Am I avoiding situations (social, leisure, or my own thoughts even) that give me anxiety?
Am I avoiding certain behaviors that cause anxiety (or do I repeat rituals that lessen anxiety)?
Do my family or friends notice a change in me?
Do I become obsessed with worry/fear?
Do I have panic attacks, and/or do I avoid what I think causes them?
If we’re talking about a child, do they dislike school but it’s difficult to pinpoint why?
Am I excessively irritable?
Do I have sleep disturbances?
Is it tough to concentrate?
If you answered YES to any one of these, it’s likely you could benefit from our anxiety-focused counseling/psychotherapy. Contact Us.
Unhelpful Depression
It’s natural to feel/experience sadness after a tragedy of some kind. Losing a job, a spouse, a child, a friend, a pet, your health, a way of life, will all cause sadness/grief that usually subsides over time. Depression, like anxiety, is an emotion that can be helpful. Like the braking system in your vehicle, when you depress (push down) the brakes, the car slows down. Depression, in its helpful sense, can keep you safe. It slows you down while you’re hurting (to prevent further hurt and increase the chances of healing).
Imagine, though, if you pulled your brake down at the wrong time, too far, repeatedly, or continuously...I feel like you’re getting the picture here. You wouldn’t go anywhere, right? While depression can have various causes (trauma, grief, loss, chemical imbalances, hormonal changes, medications) there seems to be a good principle to follow when you’re tossing around the idea of getting help. Depression that is severe, occurs over and over, or that lasts for an extended amount of time, can..well...as you probably know, keep you from moving forward in life.
Questions to help you decide if you’re a good fit for depression-focused therapy:
Am I sleeping more or less than usual?
Have I lost interest in things I once loved to do, including sex?
Have I gained or lost a significant amount of weight recently?
Do I feel empty, like the days keep repeating but nothing gets better/changes?
Do I feel guilty, worthless or helpless?
Do I feel gloomy or hopeless (like things will never change)?
Do I feel the only way out is to end my life?
Am I irritable, easily fatigued, distractible, forgetful, indecisive?
Am I having back pains or other aches or pains that seem to have no cause and won’t go away?
If you answered YES to any one of these, you could benefit from depression-focused counseling/psychotherapy. Contact Us.
Shame
“If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.” ― Brené Brown
Helpful Shame
Like anxiety and depression, shame can have a helpful and unhelpful side. Imagine yourself receiving an award for best salesperson/teacher/writer/or whatever of the year in your company. If helpful shame does its job, you wouldn’t get up to the mic to ramble about how great you are and that no one can touch your sales/teaching/writing/or whatever skills. You wouldn't say, “my sales prowess is in a category of its own! You all wish you could be as extraordinary as me, too bad you can’t, there's only one me!” No, if helpful shame has its way, you will say a couple of thank you’s, shake some hands, and bow yourself right off the stage at the appropriate time.
Helpful shame acts as a rudder steering the ship of your life away from narcissistic/overinflated/conceded waters. It keeps us from thinking you’re God or that you have superpowers (while I understand some of you may).
Unhelpful Shame
Now imagine the same scenario...you win an award for best x, y, z in your company; but, this time, instead of getting up to sing praises to yourself, you can’t even get out of your seat. Toxic shame, doing its work, bashes your head into the wall, beats you down, and spits you out, before you can even think about getting out of your chair. Your mind, pushing you down says, “you’re not like these people, they all have degrees/you’re too dumb to get this award/there must’ve been some kind of mistake." The toxic, unhelpful brand of shame squeezes, beats, and forces you into a frozen state of inactivity. Left untreated, it's relentless. Like a psychopath, it will steal from you, torture you and even annihilate your life...and never think twice about it.
Questions to help you decide if you’re a good fit for shamed-focused therapy:
Do you have a gut-level, intense feeling that you're defective in some way?
Is it hard for you to trust yourself because you've believed the lies people have told you?
Do you often feel like someone/something needs to “fix” you?
Do you distrust your own security signals? (“the problem is with me, not that they are a bad person”).
Do you try to hide parts (or all) of your body from others?
While in conversations, does your brain constantly provide an unsolicited, demeaning narrative?
Do you stamp yourself as “unworthy, stupid, or as a bad person?”
Are you exhausted? Do you spend countless hours working on your looks/body/education/career just to prove that you are somebody?
Is it hard for you to make eye contact?
Do you hesitate to speak with others?
Are you constantly disappointed in yourself (or others)?
If you answered YES to any of these, you could benefit from shame-reduction-focused counseling. Contact Us.