Faculty

Deb Piranian

Deb is director of the Wilderness Therapy concentration in the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology Department and has worked as a psychotherapist, in private practice, in a psych hospital and in wilderness therapy settings. She has been a consultant in leadership and team development for businesses and organizations. As a senior Outward Bound Course Director, Deb specialized in wilderness therapy and multinational mountaineering programs. She has more than twenty-five years of climbing experience.

Deborah Bowman
BA, University of Kansas
PhD, The Union Institute

Dr. Deborah Bowman is a professor and founder of the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology and the Wilderness Therapy programs at Naropa University. Deborah is a licensed psychologist and certified Gestalt therapist who has worked with individuals and groups for more than twenty years. She is a trainer with the Boulder Psychotherapy Institute offering post graduate education and supervision. Deborah was president of Boulder Graduate School, has worked for Boulder County Hospice, Boulder County Social Services and instructed with the National Outdoor Leadership School. She is co-author of When Your Spouse Comes Out, soon to be published by Haworth Press. 

Katie Asmus

MA

Katie Asmus comes to the department with fourteen years of experience leading groups in therapeutic and educational wilderness programs. Katie has also worked extensively with survivors of abuse and trauma. In addition to her work at Naropa, Katie has a private psychotherapy practice in Boulder, Colorado, and mentors students through Prescott College Adventure Psychotherapy/Education program. She facilitates workshops nationally on somatic intervention for trauma, wilderness and creative art therapies and Right Use of Power as ethics for helping professionals.

Jane Bunin, PhD

Jane teaches in the Environmental Studies and Transpersonal Counseling Psychology departments. She was an ecological consultant for over twenty years before coming to Naropa, where she now teaches classes in ecology and environmental science. Jane taught ethno-botany at the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies. Her interests also include ecological restoration, parallels of themes in ecology and contemplative practice, and the complementarity of modern ecology with traditional, natural element based cultures, especially Ayurveda and Andean traditions.

John Davis
BA, Wake Forest University
MA, University of Colorado, Boulder
PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder

John Davis is a professor and former chair of the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology Department at Naropa University. He is also the director of the low-residency MA in Transpersonal Psychology at Naropa. The author of The Diamond Approach: An Introduction to the Teaching of A.H. Almaas, John has also been published on the topics of transpersonal psychology, ecopsychology, wilderness rites of passage and research methods. Read John Davis’s article “We Keep Asking Ourselves: What is Transpersonal Psychology?” www.johnvdavis.com

Duey Freeman
BA, Loretta Heights College
MA, University of Northern Colorado
LPC

Duey Freeman has been in private practice since 1982. This practice consists of working with adults, children and families using a variety of modalities with the primary emphasis on Gestalt and equine work. Duey is the coordinator and teacher of all of the family/child classes and all of the Gestalt classes in the TCP program at Naropa University. He consults with and is the clinical supervisor at a very progressive Wilderness Therapy program in Colorado. He also consults at various schools and treatment programs throughout the state. Duey’s past experience includes teaching and acting as a school principal. He loves flying, skiing, anything outside and is an accomplished horseman.

Caroline M. Roy

Caroline is the executive director of Rocky Mountain Equi-Rhythm: Horses Balancing Hearts, an equine assisted growth and learning program in Boulder, Colorado. She is currently a business analyst for the Ohio SACWIS project, which is implementing a case management system for child welfare in Ohio. Caroline worked as a probation officer in Boulder County for ten years and was the team lead of a SB-94 Diagnostic Assessment team, a multi-agency collaborative team that assessed high-risk youth in the Juvenile Justice System. Caroline is a horsewoman and is certified in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy.

Kate Mazuy
BA, Colby College
MA, Naropa University

Kate Mazuy is a graduate of the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology Program at Naropa University. She is also a Certified Hakomi Therapist in private practice here in Boulder. Kate is also a staff and faculty member for Naropa's Wilderness Therapy master's program. Kate has done crisis work with the Mental Health Center of Boulder County and the Safehouse. She specializes in individual and group work for survivors of domestic violence.

Amy Winchester
BA, Mount Holyoke College
MA, Naropa University

Amy is a graduate of the Wilderness Therapy program at Naropa University. She has worked in the backcountry as a wilderness therapist with adolescents and in urban settings as a therapist with adults and families. She currently has a private practice in Boulder working with adults and families, as well as a wilderness therapy company offering outdoor- and nature-centered therapeutic trips for adults. At Naropa, she works closely with the students in the Wilderness Therapy program as the academic advisor, field coordinator and as a counseling practicum advisor during internships. Amy is a garden, mountain, river, ocean, tree and everything outside lover, and is always striving to live simply and closer to the earth.

Jody Hicks
MA, Naropa University

Jody Hicks has been dedicated to understanding and honoring the healing potential of the Earth as far back as she can remember; she believes that developing and maintaining a kinship with Nature is crucial for the overall well being of the planet.

Jody graduated from Naropa University with her master’s degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Wilderness Therapy in May of 2006; she is trained as a Wilderness First Responder. She has worked with a wide diversity of populations and settings, both with individuals and groups: including wilderness work with emotionally challenged youth at risk, intensive outpatient programs for teens and adults struggling with addictions, emergency mental health services for adults in crisis, managing an after school program for young girls K-4th grade, working overnight and day shelters for homeless women, supporting the wisdom of the elderly, transitional living for young adult women, mentoring graduate students and leading half-day long intensives for families. In addition to her current work at Naropa in the Wilderness Therapy department, Jody has a private consultation/psychotherapy practice in Boulder. For more information about Jody, please visit www.jodyhicks.net.