John Otts

John has worked in the counseling field for the past 14 years, working as a therapist, clinical trainer, and clinical supervisor in residential and outpatient settings. He graduated from Naropa University in 2011 with a degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Wilderness Therapy. He formerly held a CADCIII certification for ten years. John’s therapeutic approach is heavily influenced by Naropa’s Buddhist philosophy and a holistic approach to mental health treatment, combining the wisdom of both eastern and western healing practices. He is a mesa carrier affiliated with The Heart of the Healer Shamanic Mystery School. John uses an eclectic approach that is rooted in Transpersonal Psychology, including the use of mindfulness and other evidence-based practices such as EMDR, DBT, ACT and Motivational Interviewing. He is a believer in people’s innate capacity to heal and grow. However, oftentimes people become disconnected from their Self, and then experience various forms of dis-ease. At the core of the work he does, John helps support you to re-connect with your own inner wisdom, listen to and develop self-trust, and learn how to be the most authentic version of yourself that you can be. He believes in the power of the therapeutic relationship, which includes his own presence, empathy, and compassion to help you explore yourself. This process can also involve education and skill building, and guidance as you work your way towards the life you most want to live. If there are deeply rooted wounds from the past that are interfering with you achieving your goals, John will help you to explore how past wounds are showing up in the present day. This can include an exploration of how you came to be the person you are, and potentially how unconscious programming is playing itself out in your life in ways that may no longer be serving you. It may also include the use of EMDR, to help you to reprocess past traumatic events that may also be still playing out in your life today in unconscious ways. John has extensive experience working with adults struggling with substance abuse issues, depression, anxiety, past trauma, relationship issues, and with those who are just feeling stuck and unsure how to move forward in their lives. He has developed an unshakable sense of hope in people over his years in practice, after bearing witness to his patients, and his own ability to heal and grow, time and time again. In John’s experience, people make sense. If you want to grow, and you do the work, it is inevitable that you can come into more alignment with the person you most want to be. In his free time, John enjoys spending time with family, often outdoors, working on his own growth work, and doing nothing at all.