Meet the Team

 

Mary Ellen (Hudson) Benz LPC, RPT-S, Founder

Mary Ellen, the founder of DenverCAC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor and has over 11 years experience working with children, teens, adults, and parents. She is passionate about helping her clients gain freedom and empowerment through the therapeutic process.  

Mary Ellen specializes in working with children as young as 3 performing play therapy and also works with teens, and adults. Mary Ellen first began working with children and teens in 2006 at Lost Valley Ranch in Buffalo Creek Colorado.  After years of working with youth, she decided to end her time as the Teen Program Director to pursue her master’s degree in counseling. In 2013, she received her Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health from Denver Seminary, a CACREP accredited school. Mary Ellen also served on the Colorado Association for Play Therapy board from 2012-2015 as she worked toward her certification to become a Registered Play Therapist.

Mary Ellen previously worked as a family therapist and trauma specialist at The University of Colorado. In her time at the University, she received her certification as an Advanced Trauma Practitioner through The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children. She currently offers sensory based trauma curriculum for survivors of trauma and stressful life events.

Mary Ellen enjoys working with adults trying to navigate the world of dating.  As someone who met her partner through a dating app, she understands, the frustration and burnout that can come with dating strangers on the internet. She also gets how difficult it can be dating in a transient city like Denver. Mary Ellen believes everyone is capable of love and connection and sometimes, we just need a little help getting there.  Mary Ellen works with her clients to identify and understand their attachment styles, value systems, and relationship patterns. This allows them to address blocks that might be holding them back from dating and develop clarity. She also understands one of the most common barriers to dating or making friends is fear of rejection. One of her favorite parts about the work that she does is seeing her clients gain confidence in themselves and learn to trust their intuition. 

As a business owner herself, Mary Ellen also gets being in leadership, balancing a family life, and meeting expectation in a career can be a lot.  She works to help her clients find a balance that works for them so they can have healthy connections with loved ones and maintain their mental health, while continuing to work towards their goals.

Mary Ellen’s treatment specialties include: anxiety, depression, trauma, dating and relationships, self-esteem, social anxiety, performance anxiety, school and academic challenges, attachment, highly successful people, parenting, and educational and vocational anxiety.

 Mary Ellen believes in integrating several methods and theories of counseling to cater to her clients’ needs. Some of her most commonly used methods of treatment are: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing, Sensory based trauma interventions, Attachment Therapy, Internal Family Systems(IFS) / Parts Work, EMDR(eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) Gestalt, Theraplay Techniques (an attachment based model of therapy for children), and both directive and non-directive experiential play therapy. 

Mary Ellen is a Christian and will gladly integrate faith into counseling upon request, however, she also respects her client’s decision not to integrate faith into their therapeutic process.

Adrienne LPC, RPT, NCC

Adrienne has always loved working with children, teens and their parents. Prior to receiving her degree in counseling, Adrienne was a pre-school teacher and a theater director, as well as a high-school group leader for 6 years leading up to this position. All of these positions have required a balance of working with the children while also maintaining a relationship with their parents. 
 
Adrienne has clinical experience working with children, teens and adults with a range of struggles including depression, anxiety, neurodivergence, grief/loss, emotion regulation struggles, PTSD, sexuality, and life transitions. She has a desire to help clients through life’s expected and unexpected struggles by meeting them where they are at through a secure relationship. This relationship is foundational to Adrienne’s work. It serves as a home base from which she and her client can safely explore any struggles or hurts.
 
When working with children, Adrienne specializes in ages 2-12 and she primarily utilizes a play therapy approach with these clients. When working with teens and adults, Adrienne uses a talk therapy approach and provides Mindfulness and Cognitive/Dialectical Behavioral based strategies to help cope with life’s difficulties. Adrienne also specializes in working with parents of all ages and stages of life, specifically related to the identity and impact of parenting and its challenges. While working with a child or teen alone can have a great impact, working with parents increases the likelihood of the long lasting-impact of therapeutic change. 
 
Adrienne earned her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Denver Seminary after receiving her Bachelor’s in Psychology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered Play Therapist, and has a certificate in Reaching Children Through Experiential Play Therapy by Byron Norton at Family Psychological Services P.C. Adrienne is a Certified Trauma Professional and is trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Theraplay. Theraplay is an attachment based model of therapy that helps build a healthy bond between child and caregiver. She is also National Counselor Certified through the National Board of Certified Counselors. Adrienne is a Christian and is happy to include faith and spirituality into the therapeutic process upon clients request.

Mira LPCC, MFTC

Mira uses empathy, patience and authenticity to create a space for her clients to share their inner worlds in a way that feels true to them, through play, art, dance, and/or talking. Mira works with all ages, serving children, teens, and adults, and also serves as a family therapy. Mira provides a calm grounding presence for her clients and welcomes all emotions and experiences into the room. Mira builds deep meaningful connections with her clients as well as their parents/guardians.

Mira is a University of Colorado Denver graduate who earned her Master’s degree in Counseling with a concentration in Couple and Family Therapy. Mira is a licensed professional counselor candidate and a marriage and family therapy candidate. Mira trained for 12 months at The Mariposa Center for Infant, Child, and Family Enrichment where she strengthened her skills in trauma informed creative arts based therapy. During her training, Mira ran a social emotional Dungeons & Dragons group for tweens. Mira is currently working towards her Registered Play Therapist certification. She believes that children have rich inner experiences that are expressed and communicated differently than adults. Mira recently received her level one training in Theraplay. Theraplay is an attachment based model of therapy that helps build a healthy bond between child and caregiver. 

The foundation of Mira’s therapeutic practice comes from an attachment based model. Mira views her client’s and their parents’/guardians’ early childhood relationships and experiences as pieces of the therapeutic puzzle. Mira works from a non-directive play therapy model with children. Mira welcomes people of any gender identity or expression, race, ethnicity, size, sexual orientation, ability level, neurotype, religion, family structure, and culture.

Mira has experience working with attachment trauma, adoption, multi-racial family dynamics, racial identities, self-esteem, perfectionism, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, death and dying, parent coaching, children, adolescents, families, life transitions, peer relationships, self-harming, suicidal ideation, women’s issues, aging, and burn-out.

Lisa PhD, LPC, RPT

 

Lisa earned her bachelor’s degree from California State University Fullerton in 2007 with a degree in child and adolescent development. She went on to earn her Master’s in Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado (UNCO) in 2010 and subsequently earned her doctorate degree in Counselor Education and Supervision also from UNCO in 2014.

Lisa is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Colorado Denver and teaches in the Mental Health Counseling program training people to become mental health counselors. At CU Denver, she teaches counseling techniques, counseling children and adolescents, and supervises practicum and internship students.

Lisa’s clinical experience includes working with kids and adolescents at a community mental health agency, with kids and women at a domestic violence shelter, and within in-patient psychiatric hospitals working with adolescents through geriatric ages. Lisa is Registered Play Therapist (RPT) and prior to working at Child and Adolescent Counseling of Denver she earned many of her RPT hours engaged in play therapy with 3-5 year old’s in a Denver preschool.

Working with children is one of her favorite age groups because kids are both playful and intuitive. She believes kids are doing the best they can with the skills they have considering the life events they’ve experienced. She takes a child-centered and humanistic approach with children to allow them the space to work through their fears and traumas. She favors working with children because she believes that the impact therapy can have on children can be much more meaningful in childhood rather than letting painful childhood experiences go unprocessed for years.

Jazmin LCSW 

  Jazmin’s love for helping children and their families led her to pursing a Master’s degree in Social Work, from The University of Denver, with a concentration in Family Systems. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). She has received extensive training in attachment including courses from the Theraplay Institute and Circle of Security International. Jazmin is always striving to learn and grow as a clinician, and is currently studying to become a Registered Play Therapist through Capella University. 

 Jazmin has experience working with children, young adults, and families. She has served youth and their families in a variety of therapeutic environments, including recreational, school, and community resource settings. Her specialties include; early childhood, social and emotional development, behavioral challenges, Neurodivergence, special education, LGBTQ+, restorative practices, attachment, and trauma. Jazmin considers it a privilege to work with children and support caregivers in building protective factors for themselves and their little ones.

 Jazmin believes in meeting families where they are at and assist children and their caregivers in developing secure attachments through play therapy and Theraplay techniques. Jazmin hopes to empower the families she works with to find their strengths to overcome challenges they may face.

Jazmin uses a holistic, strengths-based treatment model and approaches the therapeutic process through a trauma-informed, attachment-based lens. She utilizes Play Therapy, AutPlay, CBT and other methods when working with her clients. She find great value in being culturally-responsive and supporting neurodiversity in a clinical setting. Jazmin also understands the vulnerability of therapy and aims to foster a safe space through compassion and acceptance so that her clients can feel welcome to can come as they are. 

  Outside of work Jazmin has fun taking dance classes, spending quality time with friends, and exploring new food places around town. She also, like most of us here in Colorado, loves hanging in the backyard with her dogs Boston and Daisy.

Rachel, Master’s Level Intern 

Rachel, Master’s Level Intern

Rachel is currently working on her Master’s of Arts in Counseling at The University of Colorado, Denver where she has loved the courses and experiences that have built the foundation of her training to become a counselor. She attended Miami University of Ohio where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing in 2015 and graduated from Indiana University in 2017 with a Master’s of Science in Higher Education and Student Affairs.

Rachel started her career working in orientation programs, career services, and academic coaching in the university setting. Rachel loved supporting college students’ development during the college experience, but wanted to deepen her ability to provide support in times of challenge, discovery, and growth. After running a career development activity called “Head + Heart = Hustle” for her students in a career exploration group and participating in the activity herself, Rachel saw counselor emerge as a clear path forward for her career interests and dreams.

Rachel recently completed her practicum experience in the counseling center at CU Denver where she worked with college students and young adults from the surrounding Denver community. Rachel utilizes a trauma-informed lens in session and pulls primarily from Attachment theory, Internal Family Systems, and Person- Centered theory to build what she hopes is a safe, explorative, empathetic, and healing space for her clients. Outside of her work with college students, Rachel has experience working with children and adolescents through volunteering with equine therapy groups at Temple Grandin Equine Center. The curious, creative, and intuitive nature the children and adolescents brought to these groups amazed Rachel every week and inspired her to complete her internship at Child and Adolescent Counseling of Denver.

 

Piper, Master’s Level Intern 

 

Piper is completing her final year at the University of Colorado, Denver while obtaining her Master’s degree in Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy. She recently completed her practicum at the university’s counseling center where she worked with both community members and CU Denver students. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Family and Human Services, as well as minors in Special Education and Psychology.  
 
During her undergraduate studies, Piper pursued her passion of working with families while working with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, as well as having a special seminar for their siblings. Piper also has experience working with children, adolescents, and families through her work at Horizons Colorado as a teacher, mental health program coordinator, and now current mentor for the high school students.
 
Piper aims to provide a safe and supportive environment as a space where her clients are encouraged to discover themselves, help them realize their full potential, and find a sense of healing through play.Piper uses an empathic, person-centered approach in her work and plans to become a Registered Play Therapist in the future. She hopes to expand her knowledge as a new therapist at Child, Adolescent and Adult Counseling of Denver as she works toward licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist. 
 

Bea, Master’s Level Intern

 

Bea is in her final year of her Master’s program at The University of Colorado, Denver. She graduated from the Metropolitan State University of Denver with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2020. 
 
Bea’s love for psychology and mental health was sparked early, after having her own experiences with counseling as a young teenager. These transformative experiences, her fascination with psychology, and her passion for working with children led Bea to work in the field of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Through working with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, Beatrice not only honed her skills in understanding and supporting diverse needs but also experienced firsthand how powerful play could be in a therapeutic setting. 
 
Bea recently completed her practicum at The University of Colorado, Denver’s counseling center where she worked with community members and students. Bea utilizes a trauma-informed perspective as well as Person-Centered and Narrative Therapy approaches in her sessions. When working with children, Bea uses a Child-Centered play therapy approach which she hopes fosters a safe and nurturing environment where children can explore, express themselves, and heal through play, empowering them to reach their full potential.