Discover power in your story
My name is D.J. Bishop, and I’m a Boulder-area therapist
I believe that we’re all born with inherent worth. This truth can get lost amidst difficult relationships, trauma, addiction, and transition resulting in disconnection from self and others. Our power is lost or found based on the stories we tell ourselves and others about who we are and what we’ve experienced. Discovering the power in your story means honoring and giving voice to the truth hiding under the pain, and embarking on your healing journey.
As a therapist serving clients in the Boulder area, I can work with you either in person or online, depending on your preference.
Therapy can help you examine and reshape the stories that define your life and relationships. Through my own regular therapy work, professional consultation with colleagues, and ongoing professional development in my trauma and addiction therapy practice in Boulder, I have gained fluency in a number of therapies. I share these therapies with my clients to help them understand and connect to themselves in a more healing way.
Therapy Options
Whether in-person at my therapy office in the Boulder area or online, the tools I use in my practice are equally effective in helping people grow. I am dedicated to guiding people to find the answers that are true for them. Individual therapy allows us to work one-on-one, collaborating to understand the challenges you face. Together we can establish and achieve your short-term and long-term goals.
There are many options for therapy that go beyond one-hour weekly sessions. We can work together to define the right combination of approaches for you, including one-hour sessions that meet weekly or twice weekly, multi-hour sessions that meet weekly, multi-hour sessions using experiential therapy that meet less frequently, or some combination thereof, depending on your unique needs and goals. My goal is to help you reduce painful symptoms while increasing your sense of fulfillment and connection in life. I have found that meeting frequently and consistently cultivates change and improves outcomes while reducing or eliminating the need for ongoing therapy.
If you seek a more accelerated healing experience, I offer individual intensive therapy journeys that extend over a few days. Together, we’ll create a custom program tailored to your specific needs, using experiential therapies to cultivate profound healing, hope, and change. An individual intensive is usually facilitated over a 3-4 day period including roughly 6 hours of therapy a day with a break for lunch. The multi-day intensive provides a deep dive into a specific topic in an immersive setting.
I am an experienced Boulder therapist who offers EMDR therapy, therapy for men, trauma and LGBTQIA therapy, and therapy for those dealing with alcohol addiction and substance abuse. work with my patients on an individual basis as well as in a group or family setting.
Helping Families with Addiction
Alcohol or drug addiction destroys people’s ability to connect with themselves, their families, and friends, and meet both basic and complex responsibilities. Recovery from alcohol and drug addiction is a long process that usually begins with some level of substance abuse treatment in order to create a level of safety and begin the process of reconnecting with self and loved ones.
As a licensed addiction and trauma therapist in the Boulder area, I have worked in the substance abuse treatment space for many years. In my therapy practice, I help parents, couples, and individuals suffering from addiction navigate through a largely overlooked and perilous aspect of early sobriety, the post-treatment stage. I’ve realized the most effective catalyst for sobriety and lifelong change is guiding families together through the post-treatment stage. I help them set up and monitor a drug testing regimen to enable greater independence, safety, and accountability, reestablish family and social boundaries, and outline successful and sustainable after-care treatment plans and goals.
Group Dynamics
J.L. Moreno, the creator of group therapy, said: “By the group they were wounded, by the group, they shall be healed.” Walking the path toward recovery with like-minded travelers is the most powerful tool in recovery from trauma or addiction. In the comfort and protection of a safe and welcoming space, we can highlight, address, and heal the relational dynamics that cause pain, and build a new foundation of relating that cultivates trust and connection.
I guide various group therapy sessions in the Boulder area for those interested in healing from the wounds of their trauma or addiction. I use techniques and therapies from psychodrama, empty-chair work, and other experiential therapeutic tools. Groups are comprised of 6 to 8 people who meet weekly in the evening for a period of 8 weeks. Each session is 2 to 2.5 hours.
Rewrite Your Story
Each of us has a story, or a collection of stories, that we use to define ourselves and navigate our worlds. Sometimes they are ongoing narratives of trauma that manifest in the mind and body, causing us to disconnect from our hearts. We lose a sense of compassion for ourselves and become estranged from the world around us. As a therapist in Boulder, I am dedicated to guiding you on a path toward healing and personal transformation. I share the same therapies I use to transform my own life to help you re-envision your stories from painful histories into a personal narrative of empowerment. This process leads you to build renewed connections with yourself, family, friends, and your community.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
— Maya Angelou
Let’s Work Together
Begin your journey toward a life of empowerment, agency and connection today. I would be honored to walk with you on your journey. Reach out to schedule a free 20 minute consultation to learn more about how I can help you build the life you want.