SHAWN DINKEL, MA, LPC, CACII
I hold a Master of Arts (MA) in Community Counseling and am both a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and a Certified Addiction Counselor (CACII) in the state of Colorado. I began my formal clinical training in 2002 and started practicing early 2005. Since then, I have now facilitated more than 10,000 sessions (with roughly half of those being group format). If I have learned anything in nearly two decades, it is that at the crossroads of vulnerability and acceptance, there is healing. As such, when people have taken the great risk to let me into their deepest secrets and suffering, and I have been able to meet that vulnerability with compassionate understanding, acceptance, and presence, the growth realized is more profound and long-lasting. While my intellectual side would love to have a more important role in helping others, as research as also shown, it is the “therapeutic relationship”–a deep understanding and connection–that serves others most. Having learned this valuable lesson, I continue to offer a no-risk first session. If anything does not feel right by the end of our first meeting, you pay nothing for that meeting and opportunity.
While I officially closed my previous business a couple years ago, New Directions for Life, Inc. (in order to take an extended break), and am now practicing under my personal name only, I still believe the old company name aptly describes the general goal of a therapeutic process, so I kept this website and the resources contained herein. As such, please visit the Resource Library, Blog, and Podcast pages for more potentially relevant information, or… check in on Facebook for additional information and resources going forward.
If you have found this site and wish to work with me, I am currently offering electronic sessions only at this time (phone, video) but please remember, even if you feel in-person would be best, there is no-risk trying out one session remotely first to see. In all likelihood, I will once again offer in-person services in the future, but I have not committed to anything at this time. To learn more, please visit my Therapeutic Services page, or contact me directly by clicking the link below. I look forward to hearing from you!