Change is possible.
Compassionate therapy to help children, teens, and adults understand what keeps them stuck, heal from painful experiences, and create lasting change.
Good to see you here.
Thinking about change is already a meaningful first step. Simply recognizing that something in your life isn’t feeling the way you want it to—and wondering whether it could be different—takes courage.
Life can bring constant demands, high expectations, and very little room to slow down. You may feel anxious, emotionally exhausted, disconnected from yourself, or caught between different thoughts and feelings. Perhaps one part of you longs for rest while another insists you should keep pushing. You may be carrying grief, stress, or painful experiences without having a place to set them down.
Counseling offers a space to pause, feel genuinely heard, and approach your experience with curiosity rather than judgment. Together, we can understand the patterns that have helped you cope, recognize what is no longer working, and develop healthier ways to care for yourself and your relationships. You don’t have to have everything figured out before you begin—and you don’t have to do it alone.
Areas We Can Work Through Together
People often seek therapy because something feels heavy, confusing, or difficult to change—even when they are not sure how to name it.
- Anxiety & Perfectionism — Quiet the pressure to do more, be more, and get everything right while building self-trust and flexibility.
- Depression, Grief & Life Transitions — Find support through loss, uncertainty, and seasons that leave you feeling stuck or disconnected.
- Trauma & Difficult Life Experiences — Process painful experiences at a pace that feels safe so the past has less influence over the present.
- Burnout & Workplace Stress — Recognize over-functioning, strengthen boundaries, and reconnect with what matters to you.
- Relationships & Family Patterns — Understand recurring dynamics and develop healthier ways of communicating, connecting, and responding.
Finding Peace Within Yourself
Many of us carry conflicting thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that can make us feel as though we are working against ourselves. A protective part of you may stay alert for danger. A critical voice may believe pressure is the only way to keep you moving. Another part may feel tired, hurt, or ready for something to change.
Therapy can help you understand these inner patterns without treating any part of you as the enemy. Drawing from practical cognitive tools, parts-informed work, trauma therapy, and the healing power of a trusting relationship, we can create change from the inside out.
Understand What Keeps You Stuck
Recognize unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, and protective responses with greater clarity.
Developa Kinder Inner Voice
Move from harsh self-criticism toward compassion, confidence, and emotional flexibility.
Heal Painful Experiences
Reduce the hold that past experiences have on your present life and relationships.
Respond Rather Than React
Build practical skills for navigating emotions, choices, and relationships in ways that reflect your values.
Ways I Can Support You
Trauma Recovery & EMDR
When painful experiences continue to shape how you feel, relate, or respond, trauma-focused therapy can help you process what happened and feel more present in your life.
Play Therapy for Children
Play gives children a natural way to express feelings, build regulation, and work through anxiety, grief, trauma, or family changes—with caregivers supported throughout the process.
Therapy for Teens
A supportive space for teens to work through school pressure, anxiety, identity, relationships, and difficult emotions using conversation and creative approaches.
Individual Therapy for Adults
Support for adults navigating anxiety, perfectionism, grief, trauma, burnout, and the internal patterns that make change feel difficult.
Meet Mary Ellen
I believe meaningful change begins with feeling understood. My approach is compassionate, collaborative, and direct, combining practical tools with genuine curiosity about the experiences that have shaped you. For more than 15 years, I have supported children, teens, and adults navigating trauma, anxiety, grief, perfectionism, burnout, and difficult life transitions.
Where you place your attention can help the mind and heart to change.
Counseling is a journey where we seek clarity and support. With thousands of decisions each day, high expectations and demands from all directions, isolation and disconnection, modern life calls forintentionality.
Counseling benefits include:
- Cognitive-behavioral (CBT)
- Mindfulness-based (MBCT)
- Person-centered
- Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
- Internal Family Systems techniques
- Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT)
- Parent Coaching
Counseling that’s right for you
Teen Counseling
Learn more about counseling and coaching for children, teens and their caregivers.
A Thoughtful, Individualized Approach
There is no single path to healing. Therapy is shaped around your needs, strengths, history, and goals. Our work may include learning practical ways to work with anxious or self-critical thoughts, understanding the protective parts of you that developed in response to difficult experiences, processing trauma, strengthening emotional regulation, and creating new ways of relating to yourself and others.
The goal is not to erase difficult feelings or force you into a more positive mindset. It is to help you understand your inner experience, feel more choice in how you respond, and move toward a life that feels more connected, meaningful, and genuinely your own.
Lasting change begins with understanding.
Practical Details
Longmont Counseling Center is an out-of-network practice, allowing care to remain highly individualized and caseloads intentionally small. Itemized receipts (superbills) are available for clients who wish to seek possible reimbursement from their insurance provider.
Initial inquiries are generally answered within 24–48 business hours, and first appointments are typically available within 10 days.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
A few common questions before you get started — reach out anytime if you don’t see what you’re looking for.
The office is located at 255 Weaver Park Rd, Suite 207, in Longmont, Colorado, serving clients from Longmont and surrounding Boulder County communities.
Services are provided on an out-of-network basis. Itemized receipts (superbills) are available for clients who want to seek possible reimbursement from their insurance provider.
Specialized counseling is available for children, teens, and adults. Services include play therapy, therapy for teens, individual adult counseling, and trauma-focused care.
Complete the online contact form or call/text 970-541-1522. Initial inquiries are generally returned within 24–48 business hours.
You Don't Have to Work
Through This Alone.
If you are ready to explore whether counseling may be a good fit, I invite you to reach out. We can begin with a consultation and talk about what you are experiencing, what you hope will change, and the kind of support that may be most helpful.