Meet Rose Caracostas | Licensed Clinical Social Worker & Certified EMDR clinician

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

Hi Rose, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
My favorite quote reads, “I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” Groucho Marx. As a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in working with patients who struggle with symptoms of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder, I feel it is very important to recognize the choice and control in how we all react. I recognize that it can be hard to be happy about some of the events we experience, however we do have the choice in deciding on how much we are going to allow those events to impact us. I love this quote because I think it is very empowering and reminds us of the choice we have.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
After completing my master’s degree in social work, from the University of Denver, my career started with working at AllHealth Network. While I was there, I worked on several different teams, supporting all different types of patients with varying mental health diagnoses. I worked with high-risk youth, cross-over youth, adults impacted by severe and persistent mental illness, suicidal ideation and attempts as well as youth who were hospitalized due to suicidal ideation, attempt, out of control behavior or homicidal ideation. I provided crisis stabilization services for them as well as therapy, short and long-term. It was at this time that I was trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) as well as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). I am now certified in EMDR. After being at AllHealth Network for seven years, I started my private practice, Elmwood Counseling Services. My practice serves adolescents and adults who have an anxiety, depression, and/or trauma diagnosis. The trainings and certification that I have, allow me to come along side patients who struggle with maladaptive behaviors and have experienced trauma and help them to reprocess those traumatic events and desensitize the traumatic symptoms. The hope is, that these patients can take back control over their lives and have a new sense of normalcy. It really is an honor to have a patient allow you be on their trauma journey with them and is what I am most proud of. I am so proud of all the work my patients do day to day and that I get to be a part of it in some way. I have learned so much from my patients, but learning about how resilient we are as humans, has been incredibly to witness first hand. This work has not been easy and starting my own practice has definitely had its challenges, but with support from my family, my past and current colleagues, and knowing I am using the gifts that God has given me, have definitely helped me get to where I am today.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a friend of mine comes to visit Colorado, I would take them to Boulder to hike Isabelle glacier trail. This is the most beautiful hike, though really can only be done in the late spring and summer due to the snow. I would want them to see a sporting event, go downtown to Union Station and have Little Man’s Ice Cream, have dinner at some excellent restaurants like Tamayo, Osteria Marco, Season’s 52 and my favorite, White Chocolate Grill. We’d visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and feed the elephants and giraffes and of course go to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate this to my patients, past and present. Without them, I wouldn’t have the privilege and honor to do the work I so love and cherish. I would also like to dedicate this to my wonderful parents who have always supported me in all that I do and have picked me up though life when I fall. My husband and my two daughters, who are the light of my life. Thank you for all your support, love and sacrifice to help me achieve my goals.

Website: www.elmwoodcounselingservices.com

Instagram: elmwood_counseling