Counseling Services

We provide AFFORDABLE COUNSELING to Naropa University students on a limited basis.

In the 2011–12 academic year, three MA intern counselors will be available to provide counseling to students at a sliding scale per session (no one will be turned away based on an inability to pay).

How to set up an appointment:

Please print and fill out the Intake Form or visit the Naropa Student Affairs office to pick up a paper copy. Review the counselor’s bios listed below and contact one of them either via email or call 303-246-4697 to set up an appointment.

Our counseling interns will also be available for walk-ins on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays between 11:30am – 2pm. You do not need to set up an appointment if you are coming during these times.

Anne Cowardin, Director of the Counseling Center
303-245-4633; acowardin@naropa.edu

Dr. Cowardin earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991, BA in Education and MEd in Counselor Education at the University of Virginia. She has served counseling centers at University of Wyoming, first as a staff psychologist, then as Training Director and Associate director of the Center and as director at University of North Carolina at Wilmington. In 2001, she served as Psychology Training Director at the Department of Psychological Health and Psychiatry at the University of Colorado at Boulder and then was appointed as Director of the department for 5 years and as chief psychologist. She left there in January of 2011 to pursue her dream of hiring on with Semester at Sea and traveling around the world working in her field on its floating campus.

Dr. Cowardin holds a license as a psychologist in Colorado, a certificate as an Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist and is a member of the Heart Centered Therapies Association. She teaches hypnotherapy to other mental Health workers through her affiliation with the Wellness Institute in Issaquah, Washington.  She has held a certification as a group psychotherapist and enthusiastically promotes group therapy.

Stephanie Small, MSW, Crisis and Outreach Counselor
303-546-3570; ssmall@naropa.edu

Stephanie is available for crisis intervention, drop-in therapy sessions, community outreach, psycho-education, referrals to community resources and suicide intervention trainings. Stephanie received her B.A. from Yale University and her M.S.W. from Smith College School for Social Work. In keeping with her holistic approach to healing, she also holds a Certificate in Holistic Nutrition from Bauman College. She believes the mind, body, and spirit must all be engaged and supported in order for transformation to occur. Depending upon the needs of the client, her clinical interventions may involve a blend of psychotherapeutic approaches, Earth-based healing techniques, and coaching around nutrition and exercise.

Lexi Chatara-Middleton
Counseling Intern, MA Somatic Counseling Psychology
alexandrac@students.naropa.edu

Currently in her third year as a graduate student in the Somatic Counseling Psychology department, Lexi brings movement and body awareness into her clinical work and has a commitment to and passion for the healing power of the creative process.  She also places importance on weaving in contemplative practices and mind-body awareness into understanding the whole person.  With Windhorse Community Services, Lexi has been trained in working with individuals with persistent mental illness through the practice of Basic Attendance and co-facilitating of groups.  She emphasizes showing up in the moment to whatever is present for her clients in order to create an environment for healing, learning, and growth.  Lexi’s diversity training has included living and working with an Aboriginal community in Australia, an experience that taught her a significant understanding of what it means to be present for traumatized individuals.  Inspired by her teaching experience, Lexi comes with a deep understanding of the process of learning and change.  Lexi expresses her passion for dance through her current participation in and previous role as co-director of the 2011 Somatic Arts Scholarship Concert.  She brings the same passion and commitment to her work at the counseling center through her training in dance/movement therapy.  Lexi’s professional interests include working with students needing support in the areas of early attachment issues, addiction and substance abuse, couples work, eating disorders, breaking old patterns, family systems conflicts, and life in general. 

Lina C. Návar
Counseling Intern, MA Somatic Counseling Psychology                                    
lnavar@students.naropa.edu

Lina is a current third-year graduate student of Somatic Psychology at Naropa University. Besides English, she is fluent in Spanish and speaks conversational Portuguese. She has a passion for learning about and from different cultures. Her therapeutic approach is experiential and relationship-based. She believes that therapy is a joint endeavor between the therapist and the client that may successfully create new ways of being in a supportive, safe, and non-judgmental environment. She is committed to assisting clients get to where they want to be, to reveal their potential, and to achieve their goals. She offers a combination of Body Psychotherapy, mindfulness and awareness-based practices, Somatic Experiencing-Trauma Healing, Hakomi, and Gestalt, all of which involve making unconscious processes conscious and facilitating the development of insight into emotions and behaviors through listening and responding not only to speech, but also to breath, movement and body sensations. Moreover, with training and experience in Substance Abuse counseling and DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) she is able to further support clients in their individual journeys of transformation, growth, and breaking destructive patterns of behavior.

Kelly Ritchey
Counseling Intern, MA Transpersonal Counseling Psychology
kritchey@students.naropa.edu

Kelly is a third year graduate student in the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology program, and a twenty-year veteran in the field of counseling psychology. Her background includes work insubstance abuse treatment, child protective services, adolescent treatment, experience as a presenter and supervisor of several intensive personal and professional development courses, and working most recently in a hospital inpatient setting with severely mentally ill adults. Some of her professional interests include meditation, Buddhist psychology, trauma and sexual abuse recovery, suicide prevention, LGBTQII support, life transitions, bereavement, couples counseling and personal identity. Kelly has also attended a year-long intensive training in the Hakomi Method. She believes strongly in personal empowerment, and is excited to meet and support the Naropa student body in their personal development/counseling needs. Outside of psychotherapy, Kelly enjoys reading, cooking, dancing, singing, meditation, and outdoor activities such as hiking and kayaking. She spends much of her free time with her three young children .