AN INTERVIEW WITH BLUE BRISTLECONE COUNSELING
Here at Queer Denver Living we prioritize mental health and highlighting our local mental health providers. Finding a safe counselor that specializes in the queer community can feel daunting. We hope to make the process easier. Thanks for interviewing with us Briana! And don’t forget to check out her website as she is currently accepting new clients!
QDL: We have actually known each other for years so it has been fun to see you have your own private practice! Tell us a little bit about your journey on getting to where you are now. Have you always known you wanted to be a therapist?
Hi! Yes, I’m glad we’ve been able to stay connected and I’m so excited to be a part of your new project! I wanted to be a therapist as long as I can remember. I was the kid on the playground doling out advice and I earned the nickname “the psychiatrist” from my friends. At its core, I think my job is to talk with people about how to do life well and I’m so lucky to be able to do that every day. I’m thrilled to be doing private practice now where I can focus on the work I love the most.
Simply put, I help stressed professionals of any gender to heal from trauma, make work suck less, and enjoy their relationships. That might be by healing trauma with EMDR, learning communication tools, or facing down imposter syndrome.
I’ve dealt with my own stress and burn out and wanted to start my own business to make work suck less. I’m on my own journey of figuring out how to rest deeply and lead a full life outside of work. I want to walk alongside others in creating lives we love that feel sustainable.
Is there meaning behind your name - “Blue Bristlecone Counseling”?
Us therapists love some tree symbolism! Ha, yes, I learned about the Bristlecone pine in grad school and it always stuck with me. It is one of the longest living organisms on the earth—up to 4,000 years and they survive in often harsh climates. They look wild and twisted, with thick trunks and small branches. One variety starts as a small blue pinecone. I love the symbolism of starting as a small pinecone (wherever you are in life) and growing toward a sustainable tree—able to adapt to what life brings you and filling your life with what makes you thrive.
You specialize in “trans and queer” work. Which is so important for this community. How have you perceived the therapists here in the Denver area - do many identify as queer friendly?
Yes, I think we’re lucky to live in a city with many queer friendly (and competent) therapists. That means queer folks aren’t having to stick with the one person in town who knows something about what they’re going through. With many folks doing this work, you will hopefully be able to find a provider who understands your identity and can also specialize in whatever particular concerns you want to address outside of that. You also have enough options to find a therapist who is a good personality match and who you feel comfortable with which is important for successful therapy.
Have you always wanted to work with this demographic?
It was in grad school that I figured out I was queer and at the same time completed my internship working with transgender adults.
That set me on my path to working over the last 10 years at almost every level of mental health care (from residential to outpatient) and focusing on queer and trans work in whatever setting I was in. Queer and trans people deserve competent care and sometimes what you need as a queer person (myself included) is a safe place to talk about the rest of your life or heal from trauma.
I don’t want queer folks to have to choose between healing, addressing their relationships/work life or being validated in their identities. I want them to have it all!
Where can we find you? Are you accepting new clients? Do you zoom?
I am currently accepting new clients and I provide online counseling so you never have to commute for therapy again (hello, comfy pants!). Please visit my website at www.bluebristleconecounseling.com where you can learn more about my practice (and see Kate’s beautiful headshots she took for me!) and schedule a FREE 20-min consultation if you’re in the market for a therapist and think I might be a good fit! I’d love to hear from you.
Photos by Kate Ivy Photography
