We were lucky to catch up with Mandy Dorsett recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mandy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

After several years of unsuccessful outpatient counseling as an adolescent, my parents made the difficult decision to send me to a wilderness therapy program. I struggled with emotion regulation through middle school and high school while facing social challenges. I spent the summer of 2004 backpacking in Utah and learning how to manage and process my biggest feelings. I came back a more confident person with new communication skills and a defined dream: I wanted to help other teenagers with emotional regulatory challenges find ways to become the best version of themselves—as a therapist.

After college I spent several years working with youth in outdoor contexts including: Summer camp, wilderness therapy, and residential treatment where I discovered how easy intense communication flows while doing something other than focusing on communication. Deep conversations with adolescents are easier to have while rock climbing, skiing, or hiking. I took this discovery to graduate school where I earned my Master of Social Work degree, became a therapist, and worked at a community mental health center. I loved working with my clients, but our sessions felt stagnant in the office. I hated sitting still in a beige room, staring at my client, trying to figure out how to get them to relax, open up, and talk to me with authenticity and ease. So, I started going on walks around the neighborhood with my clients. And there it was, the missing ingredient: Walking down the street made therapy go better. The idea for Winding Roads Counseling was born.

I opened my private practice in October 2019 as a walk-and-talk therapy practice. I don’t have an office, instead I meet clients outside in the community at parks and trailheads around Denver for our sessions. I work with neurodivergent folks, especially folks with autism and ADHD. I help families struggling with tough teens, and coach parents on how to better connect with their children. We walk (or hike) and talk about whatever they need to process, and I sometimes bring my certified therapy dog, Cascade, to help put people at ease. I immediately noticed sessions felt less awkward for my clients out in nature. It was easier for new clients to get vulnerable quickly and conversations deepened easily. During the pandemic, I was even able to continue meeting some clients outside, since the risk of virus transmission was much lower outdoors than indoors. This helped add some much-needed normalcy to many clients’ lives!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I believe traditional therapy in an office can be really helpful for some people—but not for everyone. I combine evidence-based approaches like Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy with experiential practices like: • Animal assisted therapy
• Adventure therapy
• Nature-based therapy
During a session, we might hike up a mountain to practice deep breathing while tolerating distress. Or we might meet at a climbing gym to practice mindfulness and workshop social skills. Or we might hang out under a tree with my therapy dog, Cascade, and talk about coping with autistic burnout.

I embrace non-traditional methods to solve everyday challenges for neurodivergent folks. I work with adolescents and their families, with people who are navigating being neurodivergent, with adults, and with parents. I specialize in ADHD, anxiety, Autism, and parent coaching. I work with my clients to identify things that are absolutely not working in their lives and help them build an approach that hacks their neurotype and works for their actual brains. These solutions are often unconventional (like storing your toothbrush on your kitchen counter so you remember to brush your teeth), but the whole point is just to find something that works! I help my clients build skills to manage the stress and strain of being a human in this world. We also work to increase self-compassion, to let go of the “should” that society places on us and simply accept that for some of us, things are going to look different. My clients are quirky, resilient, and brilliant. I am deeply grateful to be a part of their journeys.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I quit my job in community mental health to focus full time on my private practice on February 1, 2020. Six weeks later, the pandemic happened and, like so many other parents, I was suddenly a stay-at-home parent trying to keep my business alive and my tiny human entertained. As a person with ADHD who myself struggles with executive functioning, I had to figure out how to manage two full-time things with a brain that can barely handle one thing on a good day!

Feeling overwhelmed, I broke things down the way I do for my clients: What are the non-negotiables for each day? What things can you let go? I focused on taking care of my existing clients and taking care of my child. Every day, I tried to do one business thing and one mom activity. And I compassionately allowed myself to let everything else go. And I do mean everything else: Networking, business growth, dishes, laundry…I put it all into the “if I have time” category. I survived, and so did my business.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Networking has been so valuable in building my business! Since day one, I have constantly been hunting for more people to talk, collaborate, and refer to. I know my strengths, and I want other people to know about them too. Conversely, I know what I’m not good at and I look for other professionals to refer out to when I get client inquiries that don’t fit my skillset. I have spent hours talking to other clinicians, programs, educational consultants, and schools. I know that word of mouth is the best way for therapists to get business, so I have worked to create relationships with as many folks as I can so that they think of me when they have a client who fits my skillset.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.windingroadscounseling.com

Image Credits
Chris Gheen (Headshot) Constanza Peker (Others)