Naropa provides reduced cost counseling services to Boulder communit…

The Naropa Community Counseling Clinic provides free or reduced counseling services at half the market rate or lower to the Boulder community, helping to remove barriers to access some people face when seeking mental health services.

Boulder resident Athena Harden said her visits to the Naropa Community Counseling exceeded all expectations of what she thought therapy could be.

The clinic, which is an extension of Naropa University, has provided weekly sessions to Harden since January. Its goal is to provide a training opportunity for counseling graduate students and affordable mental health services to the Boulder community.

Harden said her experience at the clinic has been “amazing,” and that she’s learning more about herself and her relationships with each weekly session. She also said the affordable price is key in allowing her to go to therapy.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do (weekly sessions) elsewhere, so having it be economically affordable for me to do this… it’s been incredible,” Harden said.

Kirsten Norr, a pre licensed therapist at the clinic and Naropa graduate, said clients will probably not find services that cost less than $150 for an hour session in Boulder. Harden said she pays $30 for an hour session at Naropa’s clinic.

Director of Naropa Community Counseling Bill Monroe said the clinic is able to keep prices low because of the graduate student intern therapists who provide the services. He said they’ve created a model where the clinic essentially breaks even on costs.

Naropa Intern Therapist Jay Monger said it’s been great to move out of the classroom and actually work in the field at the clinic.

“It’s really powerful work to be able to meet people where they are, to engage with their suffering and to be able to provide a listening ear and to support and just accompany them along their journey,” he said.

Harden said she appreciates how her counselor is open to anything she may want to try in a session that day.

“I’ve sat in meditation with her, I’ve laid on the floor crying with her, I’ve pushed walls with her and I love that we even take walks,” Harden said. “I really love that openness to different ways of accepting however I need to process that day.”

The Naropa Community Counseling Clinic started in 2015 as a service project. Now, it’s grown to serve 472 clients in 2022 with 50% of those clients on Medicaid.

Naropa Intern Therapist Jake Miller said providing counseling services at an affordable rate helps reduce barriers to access for people who can’t afford the cost of a typical session.

“It’s hard to actually consistently keep going to therapy over a long period of time when you’re paying a lot every time you go,” Miller said. “So I think we find having a more affordable rate really helps people to stick with it.”

For Medicaid clients, all sessions are free with no out of pocket costs. Clients who pay out of pocket pay half the market rate in Boulder for one session, sometimes less, Monroe said.

Monger said having affordable access to mental health services supports the community as a whole.

“Mental health is such a big deal in our community, and particularly being able to provide it to people who have less resources is really important and I think is overlooked in our society,” Monger said.

Added Miller, “I can’t think of anybody who wouldn’t benefit from having somebody to process stuff going on in their lives and work through things and get extra support.”

Monroe said the clinic’s mission aligns with Naropa University’s values around compassion, trusting relationships and challenging systems of oppression and inequality.

“It’s pretty clear in mental health literature that the outcomes (of therapy) are such that people have better relationships, less absenteeism, improved confidence and more stable family relationships,” Monroe said. “So ultimately, I think it’s about having an improved quality of life.”

For more information about Naropa Community Counseling, visit naropacommunitycounseling.com/