Meet Craig Salerno | Licensed Professional Counselor and Psychedelic Psychotherapist

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

Hi Craig, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Working as a psychotherapist, work life balance is an absolute priority. When you are working directly with pain and suffering in the way we do, an average 40hr work week is not sustainable. Unfortunately, there is very little guidance and support around managing the impacts of the work we do; burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma. So, as a therapist, we often figure out what is sustainable through trial and error. Over the course of my career, I worked with highly traumatized populations for years before settling into my private practice and gently dialing back my hours, as well as the level of severity I work with. I also learned quite a lot about the process of bringing on contract providers who can hold additional clients in my practice, mainly to lessen the emotional load I carry while maintaining a livable salary. At this point in my career, I focus on working at a sustainable level and preserving my emotional and mental health.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I work as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and psychedelic psychotherapist. As a psychedelic therapist, we use psychedelic medicine as an additional tool in supporting clients with their therapeutic process. A typical client will utilize traditional talk psychotherapy to deepen awareness and build skills to help navigate the issue they are dealing with, and upon reaching any impasses or areas where things feel stuck or blocked, we can use the psychedelic experience as tool for deepening the work. Psychedelic therapy has long been in the field, but it’s not been until the last five years or so that practitioners are openly working “above ground” with medicines like cannabis and ketamine. I am trained in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as well and am anxiously awaiting FDA approval for this medicine, as it will be another wonderful tool to add to the therapeutic process. In my private practice, we pride ourselves on providing adequate and skillful preparation before any psychedelic therapy is initiated, and we believe that integration and aftercare is a paramount part of the process following the psychedelic experience.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am a big fan of Southern Colorado and Valley View Hot Springs. An ideal Colorado vacation to me would include some hiking, some brewery touring, and then a nice dip in the hot springs down south.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would give a big shoutout to Randall Swaim who was the first professor who pointed me in the direction of counseling and psychotherapy. As an undergrad, I didn’t have a sense of path until connecting with Randall and receiving some encouragement to explore substance abuse counseling as a career path. After that, one of my supervisors, Gwen Bell, gently suggested Naropa University where I received my MA degree. Without these pieces, I would have never landed in the spot I am today.

Website: craigsalernocounseling.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craigsalernocounseling

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-salerno-ma-lac-lpc-276ba827/

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