Hi, I’m mason.
I’m a psychotherapist (LPCC) and Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist (CCTS-I) living in Denver, and it gives me immense satisfaction to help others find clarity, purpose, and freedom. I myself have been deeply touched by the transformative power of therapy, and I bring that experience into my work. I work with the whole range of psychological and emotional issues. I’m trained in EMDR, as well as techniques called Coherence Therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and Brainspotting: experiential tools which greatly help clients reconnect with their bodies to process and release the physiological and neurological effects of trauma, if necessary.
Outside the therapy room, I am a doctoral psychology student. Despite the grind of academics, I still love reading and writing about psychology (some of it on this website). I try to blend professionalism and competence with authenticity, being both a skilled clinician and a normal human being. I myself engage in good mental hygiene, and have my own therapist whom I work with regularly, so I know what it feels like being on the other side. Having had a stutter since childhood, I understand pain and the value of resilience, and I bring that same spirit into every session.
My Approach
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy developed to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences. Unlike traditional talk therapies, EMDR directly engages the brain’s innate healing systems to “unlock” memories that feel stuck and overwhelming. Through the use of what is called “bilateral stimulation,” such as eye movements, sounds, or tapping, the brain is guided to reprocess troubling experiences so that they can be stored in a more adaptive and less distressing way.
What makes EMDR unique is that it does not erase memories or require long hours of retelling or reliving painful events. Instead, it helps your nervous system integrate those memories into your broader life story, allowing them to lose their painful intensity. This process frees up mental and emotional energy, so you can respond to the present rather than being pulled back into the past. Many clients experience relief not only from symptoms of trauma, but also from patterns of anxiety, depression, grief, self-limiting beliefs, and more.
What to Expect
The course of EMDR begins with preparation. In the first sessions, we’ll spend time talking through your history, clarifying your goals, and making sure you feel comfortable with the process. You’ll also learn simple but effective tools for calming your body and mind, so you have strategies to draw on both inside and outside of sessions. This foundation is an important step that ensures you always feel supported and equipped as we move forward.
When you are ready, we’ll begin the reprocessing phase. During these sessions, you’ll briefly focus on a memory, thought, or emotion while engaging in bilateral stimulation. I’ll guide the process in a structured but flexible way, helping your brain “metabolize” the experience and shift how it is stored. You will notice that what once felt overwhelming becomes less charged and easier to think about, leading to greater clarity, resilience, and emotional freedom.
PsychoDynamic therapy (PDT)
Psychodynamic Therapy (PDT) is a focused, evidence-based approach designed to help you achieve lasting change by uncovering and working through the unconscious, emotional roots of your struggles. Often, symptoms like anxiety, depression, and relational difficulties arise when underlying feelings have been blocked or avoided—sometimes outside of your awareness. In this therapy, we work together to identify these deeper emotions and the inner conflicts that keep them buried, helping you move toward greater clarity, freedom, and emotional well-being.
This approach is active and experiential, emphasizing not just intellectual insight by talking, but also the experience and expression of core emotions in a safe, supportive environment. By recognizing and reducing patterns of fear and avoidance around certain feelings, you can begin to reconnect with your full emotional range and develop a stronger, more authentic sense of self. PDT is especially helpful if you feel stuck in old patterns and are ready to address the heart of your challenges, not just managing symptoms, but transforming them at their source.
what to expect
In our sessions, you can expect a collaborative and focused process that begins with exploring the issues that feel most urgent or meaningful to you. We’ll pay close attention not only to your thoughts and concerns but also to your emotions, physical sensations, and relational patterns as they arise in the moment. I’ll often invite you to notice subtle shifts, like tension in your body or moments when emotions start to surface, as these can provide valuable clues to the deeper roots of your struggles. We’ll work together to identify and unpack unconscious defenses and anxiety that may block fuller emotional expression and clarity.
You’ll find that the work is both supportive and gently challenging. I may guide you to slow down and stay with feelings that arise, helping you move through anxiety or resistance that naturally comes up when approaching core emotions. Techniques like tracking bodily sensations, clarifying inner conflicts, and working with images or memories may be part of the process. We also pay close attention to the therapeutic relationship itself, as it often reflects patterns from other important relationships in your life. Our aim is to help you experience emotional breakthroughs in real time, leading to lasting shifts in how you relate to yourself and others, and eliminating symptoms.
Other Tools
In addition to PDT and EMDR, I often integrate several complementary approaches that help deepen the healing process and tailor therapy to each person’s needs. These modalities work well together, supporting both the mind and body in releasing old patterns and moving toward wholeness.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) invites you to explore the different “parts” of yourself, each with its own voice, emotion, story, and purpose in your “internal system.” Some parts protect you from pain, while others carry the burdens of past wounds. Through compassionate curiosity, we help these parts feel seen and understood, allowing your core Self: the calm, grounded center within you, to emerge as the natural leader of your internal world.
Inner Child Work is similar to IFS, but focuses specifically on reconnecting with the younger aspects of yourself that still carry unmet needs, fears, or hopes from earlier life experiences. By turning toward these parts with care and understanding, you can begin to heal long-standing emotional pain and rediscover a sense of innocence, playfulness, and trust that may have been lost along the way.
Brainspotting is a neuroscience-based method that uses eye position to access and process stored emotional and somatic material. While focusing on a specific point in your visual field (“brainspot”) and noticing what arises, your brain and body naturally begin to integrate and release what’s been held. Many clients find Brainspotting to be a profoundly calming, efficient, and body-centered path toward resolution.