About Me

After following my dream to be a stay-at-home mom (with my husband’s support), I returned to school and received my MAEd as my son entered middle school. My first job, following  grad school, was as the School Counselor and Director of Admissions for the esteemed Brideun School for Twice Exceptional Kids in Lafayette, Colorado where I helped kids and parents address a myriad of special needs. After a successful and satisfying career at Brideun I became the Family Services Coordinator with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless where I helped families deal with the diverse and complicated issues surrounding poverty. At this time, I realized my calling was to work in a more intimate setting so I opened up my first private practice.

My life has not been easy, has not been without challenge and struggle. I have had my share of personal grief, having lost both my beloved dad and baby sister recently, so I bring a personal sense of understanding to my work with clients. But because I’ve worked hard to resolve my personal issues, I now live a pretty great life: I’ve been happily married for over 30 years, have raised successful kids (both step and bio) and am now blessed with a wonderful daughter-in-law and 2 amazing granddaughters and one precious grand son. I bring both wisdom and experience to my work as I have lived a long and rich life in my 66 years!

My Approach

First and foremost, I believe it takes enormous courage to begin therapy so the foundation of my work is a heartfelt belief that all my clients are brave, strong and unique. It’s easy to stay with ‘the status quo’; to simply stay stuck with depression, insecurities, old painful wounds…..addiction. The hard/brave thing to do is to try to change, to grow. So I greet clients with a warm smile and approach the therapy relationship as just that; a relationship. The work can only be as good as the bond between my clients and myself so that is a huge priority to me. My approach is based on my belief that our problems stem from old painful experiences in childhood; often it is dysfunctional parent-child relationships that create negative self-esteem. These old wounds lead to what I call ‘HIDDEN GRIEF’: a sense of deep sadness that doesn’t have a clear cause. Gently, I help clients unravel unresolved issues that have cause problems: bad relationships, unsatisfying jobs, wounds from parents, trouble with overusing substances (including food). Once identified, it is a process of ‘re-thinking’, ‘re-feeling’ life, recreating a happy life. I have witnessed huge transformations in clients’ lives. It is a joy to be a part of.

Client Testimonials

 “I would like to say how much Cheri has helped me thus far. She has quickly been able to assess my problem areas and help me do the real work I needed to do years ago. We work together to heal my "inner child" and I'm working on forgiving myself as well as my parents. The hardest work is to do with my issues with self-hate. I have been diagnosed with Lyme disease and am in treatment but have realized that, as Cheri said, there is a big part of my issues that are caused by my emotional pain manifesting itself in my body. I truly believe this to be true. Since I started my work with her I have begun to heal, feed my soul, forgive myself and deal with my lifelong guilt on so many issues. It's only the beginning but I feel I have made a great big leap. Cheri has helped me recognize that my lack of nurturing growing up, my guilt and my self hate has been causing me so much pain, and now she is teaching me coping skills and other ways to love myself."

"Cheri is truly an angel. She is an excellent therapist; has helped me address issues and has always shown a vested interest in my progress and well being. I've seen Cheri for less than a year and during this period I've seen the impact that her advice and real world skills have helped me address matters. My family has commented on the evident changes in my outlook and coping skills."