Meet Lee Freeman | Christian therapist, LPCC, NCC, MS, MA

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lee Freeman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lee, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor behind my success by far is relationships. I see a bunch of therapists in groups I’m a part of who are struggling to get clients, but I’m fortunate to be in a different position. I have several very successful and experienced therapists whom I know and trust, and we have become primary referral sources for one another. I also have some strategic partnerships with a churches that send me clients. It makes me think of fishing: you go to where the fish are!

There aren’t a lot of Christian male therapists out there, so I have a niche, but relationships are what has unlocked that niche. Once the relationships are formed, I try to maintain those by being dependable and doing quality work. It’s always a huge affirmation when a former client refers a friend or when a church partner sends someone else my way because they’ve heard good things from the last person!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Growing up, my parents always told me “Life is all about relationships.” They also modeled purposeful work, as they are both passionate and gifted artists. Following a move to Loveland, we really struggled financially; turns out it was more difficult to make a living as self-employed artists than they had hoped. In poverty during some of my most formative years, I learned a lot about how to stretch a dollar, but I also learned I wanted my own journey to be different. Yet I couldn’t escape the allure that drove both of them: doing something I loved, something I was gifted at, and something that mattered.

To some extent, my life since then has been pursuing this goal. After teaching high school for several years, my wife and I fostered a baby girl, which changed our lives forever. We saw firsthand the pain and brokenness plaguing the foster system, and we couldn’t walk away without doing anything, so we started a nonprofit called Foster Alight. As we surveyed the needs in the system, we realized there were no organizations in the area who specifically work with birth parents, despite the fact they are the root: when they succeed, kids succeed, and when families succeed, the community is healthier. That journey has been both the most challenging and most fulfilling endeavor of my life.

After teaching and running Foster Alight for a few years, it was time to leave teaching behind, partly so I could find a more flexible schedule. As much as I loved working with kids in the classroom, I had noticed the precipitous decline of mental health and my total inadequacy to respond to it. It felt like the front lines for teens’ hearts had moved from the classroom to the therapists’ offices, so I made a switch.

I learned I loved working with men and couples just as much! A big theme of my work life is people are people. High school sophomores are just people. Birth parents whose kids have been taken because of their heroin addiction are just people. And the people I work with in therapy are just people. We all need to be seen, heard, and known. We all need love and hope. It is once of the greatest honors of my life to help provide that.

I’ve stopped thinking so much in terms of destination because the journey has been wild and beautiful. I believe now more than ever that it’s possible to have a life of balance, of purpose, of passion, and to pay the bills at the same time. It’s been a wonderful adventure and challenge to figure that out, and it’s totally been worth it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There is so much Denver has to offer; I could write a book. However, I would definitely hit Union Station, The Lume, Meow Wolf, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and catch a show at the DCPA. My wife and I fancy ourselves aspiring foodies, so we would use the Michelin Guide to guide our culinary journey: https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/colorado/denver_1261491/restaurants?sort=distance

That being said, I can’t leave Denver without stopping by VooDoo Donuts and getting an “Old Dirty Bastard,” and we’d probably hit up Denver Biscuit Company somewhere along the line, too!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many I could list, but when I think about people who really excel at lifting others up, I think of Kari Stewart at Timberline Church. In addition to being a therapist, I am also the Executive Director for a small nonprofit called Foster Alight. If there is one person in Northern Colorado who I think has most positively influenced the foster system and empowered so many others to get involved, it’s Kari! She walks the walk, mothering a huge family of her own, but she is also a leader and luminary in the foster space, which is part of the reason Northern Colorado has some of the best and most productive collaboration amongst foster nonprofits, churches, and county departments. There’s so much more I could say, but I think you’d love to hear more straight from her!

Website: https://www.leefreemancounseling.com/

Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/lee-freeman-loveland-co/1185350

Image Credits
Headshot by Sandra Lee