Meet Mark Grebener, LCSW, LAC, CHt | Psychotherapist, Licensed Addictions Counselor, Certified Hypnotherapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mark Grebener, LCSW, LAC, CHt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The thought process behind starting my own business was never to be self employed or to have my own business. It was to be able to help and heal people in a way that it seemed only possible being being my own boss. The desire to challenge myself to grow through training to have new ways of reaching or healing drove me to find my own practice.

What should our readers know about your business?

I have a solo private practice for psychotherapy. My family life was rather chaotic and high school was a very hard time of life. I did not want to go to college due to my experience of high school so I opted for a one year tech school were I learned electronics repair. I began working with computers in many different capacities from hardware tech, network analyst, consultant, IT department manager and a college instructor. I enjoyed this work and was successful at it but knew it was not fulfilling in the way that I needed it to be.

About three years into my computer career, I was in therapy for some of my childhood trauma and I began to build a desire to be a therapist. I wanted to reach people before too much damage was done. In order to prepare to be a psychotherapist, I began going to college part time. I also got a private pilot license at this time. School was taking a long time when only attending part time. I needed support and encouragement to quit my full time computer job and attend college full-time. The support of many people helped me enter college full time with a double major in psychology and aviation. My family suffered a death and I soon realized that I only wanted to be a psychology major. I spent my 20’s in college getting my bachelors and masters degree. There were many trials but I had many helpful people along the way.

I began my psychotherapy career at an adolescent treatment center. This treatment center was where I did my last graduate level internship. Prior to this, I did an internship at a day treatment program for people with chronic mental illness such as schizophrenia, bi-polar and severe borderline personality disorder. This was overwhelming and I thought about not continuing my education and retreating back into the computer field. I was scared but as happened many times, I received great encouragement. I was walking around campus and saw one of my favorite professors, whose name also happened to be Mark. I told him of my distress and he encouraged me to try another population which is when I tried the internship at the adolescent treatment center. I had great supervision and really enjoyed the experienced. The biggest lesson in this was letting go, moving through loads of fear and just keep trying, be humble and believe.

From there I worked at community mental health centers, a psychiatric group practice, schools and private practice. Getting bored easily causes me to try new things so overtime I have trained in Jungian Analytical Theory, EMDR, Hypnotherapy (Age Regression and Past Life Regression), Hypnosis, Sound Healing and Kundalini Yoga. Learning new techniques keeps me engaged and vital in my field. It is great to go away and take time for myself to learn something new and bring it back to my practice. Recently, I have found the sound healing to be incredibly healing and am doing more and more training in this area.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I have a friend in Buelah, CO who invented, what he calls, a bio-illuminator that illuminates etheric energies around people. I would definitely take my friend to meet Jack and experience the bio-illuminator. I would want to go to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and see the sloths, feed the giraffes and walk with the wallabies. Then we would head back towards Castle Rock and eat at the Castle Rock Diner, my favorite pan fried chicken. Next would be a visit to Steamboat Springs and ride the mountain bike trails, particularly No Peddling Required (NPR). Then a trip to the the Old Town Hot Springs. Then some camping on the Poudre at Ansel Watrous and then a visit to the Mishawaka. Great food and music.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am grateful for many people in my life that have helped me along my way. These include my mother and father, siblings, wife and my children Samuel and Addy for their love, support, understanding and patience. I also want to thank my mentors: Wiley Hammersmith, Jeanne Flesch, David Dalrymple and Christine Bruun and my favorite Jungian author, JAmes Hillman.

Website: www.markgrebener.com