We were lucky to catch up with Mary Heekin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mary, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the best advice you’ve ever given to a client? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

In my field, we really try hard not to give advice. I am not the expert on any client’s life. If I were to try and boil it down, I would say that the most effective and compassionate thing that I could do for a patient is to teach them skills that empower them to lead a value driven life. I try to focus on the idea of holding two things at the same time. You can be scared and do the thing anyway. Sometimes I have to deliver some unwanted news – therapy does not necessarily make the hard things go away. It can, however, help to shrink down the difficult thoughts/feelings to a size that encourages an individual take it with them to do the things that bring them joy. I have worked with people who finally boarded plane, started painting again, set a boundary with a family member, and started dating. Sometimes the win is just sitting on their front stoop for 20 minutes and that is awesome. My favorite story was a client years ago. She came to the office and declared that when she woke up her anxiety was really loud and wouldn’t budge. I asked her what she did with that and she answered, “I made it breakfast!”.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am one of the co-founders and managing partners of Cognitive Behavior Therapy Associates of Denver – but we call it CBT Denver. We have been providing psychotherapy services for people in Denver and the mountain area for over a decade. The list of specialty areas that we treat is lengthy – mood, anxiety, health anxiety, phobias, insomnia, PTSD, and so much more. With the introduction and mainstreaming of teletherapy, we are now providing treatment for people across the country. My specific journey was definitely not a straight line. After graduation from college I was not sure what I wanted to do – so I went skiing in our beautiful Colorado mountains. Later, I dabbled in different areas – web start ups and business development mostly – my favorite was working for a women’s website called iVillage in New York City. My defining moment came on 9/11/2001. I was witness to the horrific and traumatic events in NYC that day and as the dust literally an finally settled it became clear that we have one life to live and I needed to get a move on. I decided then and there that I would set out to do what had really always been my goal. I returned to graduate school and started training in evidence-based interventions in psychotherapy. After graduation from graduate school I was fortunate enough to work with one of the most renowned individuals in the field of anxiety treatment – Dr. Barbara Rothbaum at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She was pivotal in my early days as a therapist and I could never imagine learining all that I did while on her team. Eventually, I realized that I loved and missed Colorado (becauase it is awesome) so I returned to join faculty at the CU department of medicine. This is wear I met my business partner.

CBT Denver began as individuals who wanted to start something together and provide excellent therapy for individuals in Denver and the surrounding areas. Over the years we have grown to 13 + staff members and we have expanded services to include indivuals, couples, groups, teens, and children. Our senior staff also manage Externs who come to us from local universities and this allows us to mentor, teach, and supervise younger therapists just starting their journey.

I am proud of so many parts of this ever-evolving and growing team of people. The depth of knowledge and expertise is remarkable. The team of providers at CBT Denver are not only trained exceptionally well, they are fun and funny and make coming to work so easy.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Along the way we have built our reputation for providing effective, evidence-based interventions through some very basic strategies. First and foremost, we do our best to help our clients achieve their goals. We do not believe that our patients should be in therapy forever. We work to set and achieve goals that enable clients to head out and practice what they have learned. We have also focused on building and maintaining relationships with colleagues, primary care, and other specialists who have concerns for their clientele. It has always been important to us to communicate and collaborate in a team approach. I nor my partner started this practice as any kind of expert in marketing, social media, or the law. We have learned a ridiculous amount along the way and we know when to call in the experts. But really, at the most basic level, our reputation requires that we do good work. No amount marketing can make up for anything less.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

The very first experience I had with my business partner was over the phone. I was visiting Denver because I was getting settled into my new job. Antonia Pieracci, Phd was already employed with the team at CU that I eventually joined. There was a blizzard and I was staying in a hotel downtown. During that visit I was supposed to be checking out neighborhoods and figuring out where I could possibly live. I was overwhelmed, the weather was crazy, and I burst into tears. At that moment my phone rang and this voice said, “Hi, this is Antonia and I was just calling to say hello and see if you needed anything”. Indeed I did. Now cut to years later – we are business partners, friends, and neighbors. We have experienced marriages, birth of children, growth of our practice, a worldwide pandemic, and so much more. We are lucky enough that when one person is caught up in life’s details, the other one stays expansive and vice versa. It works a lot like puzzle pieces. Antonia enjoys the aspects of running this practice that are definitely not in my wheelhouse and I pick up the responsibilities that I am skilled in and enjoy spending my time doing. It works great!

Contact Info:

• Website: www. cbtdenver.com
• Instagram: cbtdenver
• Facebook: CBT Denver

Image Credits

Images courtesy of Unsplash