We recently connected with Brynne Goldberg and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Brynne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I’ve been somewhat of an unintentional “risk-taker” my entire life. I tend to fixate on a goal and dive in headfirst. You could say I throw caution to the wind, but someone has to be aware of the risk in order for it to be thrown. Most of the significant decisions I’ve made for my life haven’t required much calculation. I’ve gone for what felt right. So, while opening up my own private practice during a pandemic certainly qualifies as a pretty significant risk, I saw no other options when it came down to it. I was aware there may be bumps and massive learning curves in the road. I also knew just knew that it would work out. It just felt right. The risk of starting a practice didn’t weigh on me. However, the niche I wanted my practice to cater to did.
I lived and worked full-time in the mountains from 2012 to 2020 before moving to the Front Range and starting Peak Pursuits. Being that the mountains of Colorado play host to so many athletes, living amongst them for almost a decade offered me a unique insight into their lives. The countless hours I spent at the Howard Head physical therapy offices during my time in the ski industry also provided me with an insider’s perspective on the lives of athletes after injuries and retirement and the impacts those changes had on their mental health. During my appointments, I’d often chat with my friend and physical therapist, Nate Degraaf, about these struggles at length.
I gained more insight into athletes’ unique mental health challenges through regular conversations with my good buddy Joe Howdyshell, owner of the Summit Endurance Academy and coach to many Olympic-bound athletes. One of the most important topics we’d discuss was where sports psychology ended and where specialized therapy services for athletes could begin. Many sports psychologists and sports psychology services exist to help increase athletes’ mental strength to improve their performance. And, I realized during graduate school there isn’t a specialization dedicated to athletes’ mental health within the counseling and psychotherapy space.
There was no road map to follow when I decided to open my practice and specialize in working with athletes. I was scared people wouldn’t understand the designation or purpose. I feared being ridiculed, judged, and dismissed. But that’s never been anyone’s reaction. Everyone’s response has been quite the opposite, especially my clients. They express relief and gratitude for feeling so understood and seen. It’s been validating for them to have their unseen struggles brought to light. Recognizing athletes, myself, as a population in need before they’ve been formally identified was definitely the biggest professional risk I’ve ever taken. And the affirmation I receive from helping people has definitely been the biggest reward.
Brynne, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I was born naturally athletic. I loved everything from riding my bike and rollerblading to playing soccer, gymnastics, diving, and horseback riding. I wasn’t born with natural confidence for competition. When the game or competition was over, I would tear myself apart, scrutinize, and ruminate over everything I didn’t do well enough. As an adolescent, I was completely unaware of why I would do this to myself. My parents even said they wouldn’t let me compete if I continued to be so hard on myself. Reflecting on those times now as an adult, I recognize that I struggled with severe anxiety, which caused severe depression at times as well. Although I am grateful for these experiences, as they have bestowed upon me the ability to explicitly and authentically connect with my clients, I often wonder where my talents could have taken me had I had the appropriate mental health care.
My love of sport, snow, and mountain life eventually led me to Vail, CO. I moved there after college to pursue a career in on-mountain special event production and marketing. This pursuit gave way to a long career in the ski industry as a certified alpine instructor and coach. However, after eight consecutive seasons, the accumulation of 25 + years’ worth of sport-related injuries began to take its toll, and managing chronic pain became a reality. I knew a career change was inevitable. I always found it easy to establish strong rapports with students, athletes, coaches, and trainers, and the skillset required further developed my innate empathetic and communicative abilities. So, when it came time to retire from the ski industry, I realized I could parlay those skills into a career in the mental health field, offering people the support I enjoyed providing and the help they needed, and I aimed my sites on achieving a graduate degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
I began my graduate program in 2017. At that time, athletes weren’t being recognized as a population needing specialization within the mental health field. They weren’t even being seen as humans with mental health problems in general—neither in mainstream media nor in my graduate program. As I mentioned before, living and working in the mountains for almost a decade provided me with a lot of firsthand experience around athletes of all types in various levels of competition. Experiencing my own struggles, witnessing those of the athletes in my community, insightful conversations with professionals in the field, and my personal passion gave birth to the idea behind Peak Pursuits – a professional counseling service dedicated to working with athletes and other high-achievers and specializing in treating anxiety.
I gained my initial experience as a therapist in an integrated care clinic serving lower-income communities within Summit County and surrounding rural areas. The comprehensive model was an important aspect I wanted to incorporate into my own practice to help people feel better mentally and physically and feel good about their care. I hate hearing stories from patients who were provided an unfamiliar outside referral, waited eight weeks for an appointment, spent 15 minutes with a medication prescriber, and left feeling like just a number. Therefore, my clients are not only supported by my services; they are also supported by my established care teams based out of Denver and Boulder. My care team includes acupuncturists, chiropractors, physical therapists, nutritionists, psychiatrists, primary care providers, and more, many of who are housed within the same building or neighborhood.
My services include traditional talk therapy, couples coaching for established individual clients, walk and talk therapy, and coaching. I treat various mood disorders and mental health challenges from borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety, and ADD/ADHD to relationship issues, work stress, and more. My area of expertise is anxiety, which in my opinion, runs ramped in many areas of most people’s lives. I work with each client differently depending on their specific needs and goals. Generally, I incorporate evidenced-based modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) with Psychoanalytical and Psychodynamic approaches. I am excited about a newer therapy called Schema Therapy that combines all four of these approaches into one comprehensive approach. I really love how Schema Therapy conceptualizes people differently from the DSM. It first evaluates how a person’s unique life experiences impacted their development of coping skills. Treatment plans include identifying ineffective strategies a person may be unaware of that may also contribute to their overall suffering and developing new skills. On the side, I’m currently working on becoming certified in Applied Sports Psychology and treating mild eating disorders.
I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from clients in my first year of private practice. I relish in their ability to take control of their lives and make the changes they want for themselves. My most proud moments are witnessing impactful realizations and hearing how significantly therapy has helped them take control of their lives instead of their anxiety controlling them. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to feel so passionate and fulfilled by my work. It invigorates me and even turns bad days into good.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
Absolutely! If I knew then what I know now I would have also gone to school to become a behavioral scientist. I am utterly fascinated by the intricacies of human behavior and what makes us tick!
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Discover what you love to do and establish relationships with people you love to work with! Then, a day at work never feels like work. Easier said than done, I know! And, if you can relinquish archaic and narrow definitions of happiness and success, you can truly achieve anything.
Contact Info:
- Website: PeakPursuitsllc.com
- Instagram: TherapyRules
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peakpursuits/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brynne-goldberg-54805446/
Image Credits
Bonnie Sen, Editorial and Fine Art Photography