Cognitive behavioral therapy in Denver
Practical support for changing the thought and behaviour patterns that keep you stuck.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps you understand the connection between thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and physical responses. With a practical, structured approach, therapy can help you notice unhelpful patterns and build more flexible ways to respond.
CBT may help when you are navigating:
- Anxiety, worry, panic, or rumination
- Depression, low motivation, or self-critical thoughts
- Avoidance, perfectionism, or procrastination
- Stress, burnout, life transitions, or coping patterns
Practical skills support
A clearer way to understand what keeps the cycle going.
CBT is often helpful when you want therapy to feel structured, practical, and connected to everyday life. It can help you see how thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and actions influence one another.
The goal is not to force positive thinking. The goal is to develop more accurate, compassionate, and useful responses when your mind or nervous system gets pulled into familiar loops.
In CBT, you and your therapist can identify patterns, test new coping tools, and practise skills between sessions so change can begin to show up outside the therapy room.
Common reasons people choose CBT
You can learn to respond differently, even when the pattern feels familiar.
CBT can support clients who want practical tools for managing thoughts, emotions, and behaviours that have become difficult to interrupt alone.
Worry loops
Anxious thoughts repeat, spiral, or jump to worst-case scenarios before you can slow them down.
Low mood
Depression, hopelessness, self-criticism, or withdrawal makes it harder to stay connected to daily life.
Avoidance
You avoid tasks, conversations, places, or emotions because they feel too overwhelming or uncomfortable.
Perfectionism
High standards, fear of failure, or all-or-nothing thinking creates pressure and exhaustion.
Stress and burnout
Work, school, family, or life demands are wearing down your capacity to cope.
Panic and body symptoms
Physical anxiety symptoms feel frightening, confusing, or hard to manage in the moment.
Self-doubt
Negative beliefs about yourself make it difficult to feel confident, capable, or grounded.
Transitions
Change has made old coping strategies less effective, and you want a clearer path forward.
How therapy can help
CBT helps you notice patterns and practise new responses.
A CBT-informed therapist can help you slow down automatic reactions, identify the beliefs or predictions that shape your emotions, and experiment with healthier behaviours. The work is collaborative, practical, and paced around your goals.
Name the pattern
Identify thoughts, emotions, body cues, and behaviours that keep the cycle going.
Practise new tools
Build coping strategies, grounding skills, reframes, and behavioural experiments that fit real life.
Create momentum
Use small, doable steps between sessions to support steady change over time.
Our approach
Structured, practical, compassionate care.
CBT at Denver Mental Health Collective is collaborative and human. We use practical tools without reducing your experience to a checklist.
Your therapist may integrate CBT with mindfulness, trauma-informed care, DBT skills, ACT, or relational work depending on what you need. The aim is to help you understand patterns clearly and build tools that feel realistic for your life.
Collaborative
Therapy is built around your goals, values, pace, and lived experience.
Skills-based
Sessions can include tools you can practise between appointments.
Compassionate
We work with thoughts and behaviours without blaming or shaming you.
Flexible
CBT can be integrated with other approaches when your needs call for more depth or support.
Meet Our Denver CBT Therapists
Our Denver therapists offer CBT-informed support for anxiety, depression, stress, burnout, perfectionism, avoidance, and major life transitions.

Andrew Bako
Outpatient Therapist
Supports people working through trauma, anxiety, depression, life transitions, identity concerns, and relationship patterns.

Austin Papini
Outpatient Therapist
Supports clients with mindfulness, emotion regulation, communication, distress tolerance, and values-based change.

Benjamin Layman
Counseling student intern
Helps people make sense of their experiences while navigating anxiety, depression, grief, and life transitions.

Bennett Cordes
Counseling student intern
Offers a warm, supportive space for anxiety, ADHD, depression, self-esteem, and life transitions.

Casey Behr
Outpatient Therapist Candidate
Supports trauma survivors, queer and questioning clients, and people healing from relational or developmental trauma.

Cassia Hendrickson
Outpatient Therapist
Offers warm, trauma-informed support for anxiety, depression, attachment, grief, body image, and identity concerns.

Emma Taylor-Westwood
Counseling student intern
Helps adults build awareness and presence while working through anxiety, addiction, trauma, and depression.

Hunter Appleton
Outpatient Therapist Candidate
Provides supportive therapy for clients navigating stress, identity, relationships, and life transitions.

Jamie Golden
Outpatient Therapist Candidate
I’m a Master’s-level therapist trainee here at Denver Mental Health Collective.

Jamie Kinley
Clinical Director
Supports clients navigating depression, anxiety, trauma, OCD, bipolar disorder, relationship issues, and life transitions.

Jennifer Radomski
Counseling Student Intern
Offers a collaborative space to process uncertainty, find clarity, and move forward with more confidence.

Jesse Cooper-Whitney
Outpatient Therapist Candidate
Helps anxious people face life with more confidence while working through emotions, habits, and self-criticism.

Karley Arguello
Outpatient Therapist
Helps adults feel less alone while working through anxiety, depression, relationships, and life transitions.

Kristi Aguilar
Lead Therapist
Therapist and eating disorder recovery advocate in Denver Mental Health Collective.

Nick Woodhull
Counseling student intern
Walks with clients toward greater peace and freedom through relationship challenges, anxiety, depression, and trauma.

Sam Backer
Outpatient Therapist Candidate
Supports people experiencing trauma symptoms, anxiety, depression, homelessness-related stress, or major life transitions.

Sarah Peterson
Outpatient Therapist
Supports anxiety, depression, trauma, life transitions, and perinatal or postpartum experiences with trauma-informed care.

Sarah Thompson
Lead Therapist
Therapist at Denver Mental Health Collective. Creative Conductor, and Trauma Transformer.
WHAT TO EXPECT
A grounded process for starting CBT-informed care
Starting CBT-informed therapy does not require you to have everything figured out. The first step is a conversation about what you need, what feels difficult, and which therapist may be the right fit.
Start with a consultation
Use the free consultation to ask questions, share what brings you in, and see whether this approach may fit.
Clarify the focus
Your therapist helps you identify goals, patterns, strengths, and the kind of support that feels useful.
Begin with support
Together, you build a steady process that can include insight, skills, practice, and reflection between sessions.
Caitlin NicolaTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
Having worked closely with the team at Denver Mental Health Collective, I’ve seen how much care and intention goes into the work they do. The clinicians are thoughtful, collaborative, and deeply committed to supporting clients in a meaningful way. It’s a team that truly cares about showing up for the people they support.
Jodi EscalanteTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
Alex is an exceptional therapist who specializes in relationships and relationship trauma. He is incredibly insightful, articulate, and intelligent, and he has a remarkable ability to quickly understand complex dynamics and offer meaningful perspectives. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for thoughtful, skilled support looking to heal from relationship challenges.
Caroline AbateTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
Jamie is amazing and always helps me to detangle the mess in my brain. I always look forward to seeing her because she cares and wants to help. She is also incredibly quick to come up with thoughtful suggestions or responses. Thank you Jamie for always providing A+ service!
Julieanna, PalaciosTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
I have loved both of my therapists here. Currently working with Kaitlin and it’s been exactly what I need, I couldn’t be more impressed with how much I’ve grown since starting. Also the intake process and even transitioning process was super smooth and easy, everyone had been really kind and communicative. Love dmhc ????
Shelby OsmondTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
Impressed with the intentional and professional approach the new management has taken and making sure their clients are well taken care of.
Questions
Common questions about CBT.
Is CBT just positive thinking?
No. CBT is not about pretending everything is fine. It helps you examine thoughts and patterns more clearly so you can respond with more flexibility and choice.
Will I get homework?
Sometimes. Your therapist may suggest small practices, reflections, or experiments between sessions, but these should feel useful and realistic rather than overwhelming.
Can CBT help with anxiety and depression?
Yes. CBT is commonly used for anxiety, depression, panic, stress, and many patterns connected to mood, behaviour, and coping.
What if I want deeper emotional work too?
CBT can be integrated with trauma-informed, relational, mindfulness, psychodynamic, or parts-informed therapy when deeper emotional context is important.
How structured are sessions?
Some sessions may be very structured, while others may be more exploratory. Your therapist will help shape the work around your goals and needs.
How do I know if CBT is right for me?
A free consultation can help clarify whether CBT-informed therapy feels like the right fit or whether another approach may better match your needs.
Related support
You may also be interested in
If this approach is not the exact fit, these related services may also support your next step in therapy.
Individual Counseling
One-on-one support for anxiety, depression, trauma, identity, transitions, and stress.
Family Counseling
Support for families navigating communication, conflict, parenting stress, transitions, or repair.
Teen Therapy
Support for adolescents navigating emotions, identity, school stress, family dynamics, and mental health concerns.
EMDR Treatment
Structured support for trauma, distressing memories, anxiety, and experiences that feel hard to process.
You do not have to stay stuck in the same thought and coping patterns. With the right support, you can build practical tools for steadier days. New-PageDefinition

