Meet Terry Bohn MA LPC LMHC

We had the good fortune of connecting with Terry Bohn MA LPC LMHC and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Terry, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
Not necessarily ‘what’, but who. I’m inspired by vulnerable, authentic and courageous people, plain and simple. I have the honor of working with some of these people – men, women and couples – every weekday. I chose to become a licensed counselor starting in my early 40’s in equal parts because of the trauma I’ve survived and healed, the insights I’ve gained in my own historical therapy, as well as seeing firsthand how hungry clients are for knowing themselves deeply.

My clients are often other counselors, entrepreneurs, leaders, executives and business owners who crave and seek meaning and connection. Like me, they’re actively choosing doing their “right thing” because they’re regularly inspired by their own developing sense of curiosity, integrity, purpose and clarity. I’m encouraged by their desire for healing and growing, which has paralleled much of my own personal narrative and journey.

I’ve been highly curious since I was a child; my mom says I took things apart since before I was in kindergarten, and self-taught putting them back together.
My inspiration is fueled by the fire to better relate to those in my life by each of us stepping outside our own (traditional) box and being open to new perspectives. Each one of us lives in not only interesting times, but often complicated, uncomfortable and sometimes inconvenient stories, which we call life. How you and I choose to show up in life is an invitation to co-create a different meaning, trajectory and narrative, day after day.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve heard countless times from friends and peers how nonlinear my career has been. Fresh out of college, I took a sales job with MCI mostly because it scared the $#&% out of me. My first professional job at 24 became a metaphor for my career: Many Changes Instantly. I relocated geographically with them twice, including my first stint in Colorado – where I’m so thankful to now call home. Then I travelled full-time with PwC for four years – seeing amazing places and working with truly fascinating colleagues and clients. I was in Boston on 9/11, but was supposed to have been in the World Trade Center South Tower that morning. That work trip was cancelled at 11pm the night before, which *never* happened. Talk about survivor’s guilt – that weighed heavy on me for years.

My takeaway (through my own therapy) was that 9/11 simply wasn’t my time to die, and that I had a story that wasn’t finished being written. Although I was raised as a child (and since recovered) Catholic, it was in that season (2003-2007) my underlying spirituality flourished. I found a deeply caring community in a missional nondenominational church, which then shifted my work expectations from merely transactional to profoundly relational.

A couple years later, I moved from North Carolina to Washington state for my graduate program, in yet another professional upheaval. Seattle is gorgeous, yet never felt like home — too far away, crowded and expensive. The Seattle Freeze/Chill was a very real thing a decade ago, sadly. So I moved back here to the Rocky Mountains in ‘14, and I started my own private counseling practice the year after. When you hear the phrase “when you do what you love, you’ll never work another day” rings quite true for me.

For the last dozen years, I’ve had the privilege and honor of serving clients who have found themselves stuck, overwhelmed and sometimes unspeakably devastated, who endure yet also needing a more meaningful path forward. Some of the biggest assumptions and risks each of us take are unconsciously allowing our past beliefs and experiences to contaminate our present needs and future plans. I’ll pay the costs for a growth mindset every time.

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?
We’d start near my home base of Fort Collins, likely at Postcard Pizza for dinner and a hazy IPA, followed by a stroll through Old Town or the CSU campus. The next morning, we’d begin our day early by cycling our platinum-rated greenways through town to Horsetooth Reservoir and along the Poudre River, then stop at Me Oh My Coffee and Pie … self-explanatory. Afterwards, we’d jump in the Subie to head up the Poudre Canyon toward Estes, getting a late breakfast burrito at Kind Coffee, and continue on to Rocky Mountain NP. I prefer the Fall River Road entrance, then Trail Ridge Road, a late picnic lunch at the Colorado River Trailhead with a relaxing overnight in Granby. The next morning we’d head to Steamboat for a soak in Old Town Hot Springs, followed by a late brekkie at Winona’s, of course. We’d hike and camp a couple days around Yampa, raft the Eagle River and flyfish a tributary nearby – but I’m not saying where! We’d finish the week around Glenwood Springs – lounging regularly in the steamy pools (are you sensing a theme here?), staying at the Colorado Hotel, with dining to include Sweet Coloradough’s cronut, Bumbu and the Pullman. Finally, we’d head eastward via the California Zephyr train to Denver’s Union Station, ending our week sampling some of the many fantastic food trucks in Denver.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I call them my “Board of Dans”.
First and foremost, Dr. Dan Allender, under whom I studied and worked for during my Masters’ program at The Seattle School. Dr. Allender taught me the inherent/inherited tragedy and beauty of one’s own story, and the necessity of healing, learning, practicing and growing. The season of my life in my early 40’s was, by design, purposefully disruptive – relationally, vocationally, financially and spiritually. In my late 30s’, I had become far too assumptive and complacent in my corporate career, and I was painfully recognizing the misplace motivations, tendencies and impact of my workaholism. Now, in my late 50’s, I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything, honestly.

Then there’s Dan Siegel, who developed the interpersonal neurobiology framework, introduced the 9 Domains of Integration, and their application as a therapeutic endeavor with clients. Learning from and integrating Siegel’s interpersonal frameworks are some of the clearest “a-ha!” moments I’ve experienced in the last couple decades. I also find that Dan Goleman, who popularized Emotional Intelligence back in the early 90’s, has been an ongoing, invisible mentor of sorts. Self-awareness and self-regulation are some of the most significant and difficult opportunities each of us have in becoming better versions of ourselves.

I would then add Dr. Dan Hartman, my first and best clinical director, whose collaborations with Dr. Henry Cloud led to the groundbreaking contributions in the realm of boundaries, back in the early 90’s. In two years, I was the fortunate benefactor of hours of weekly clinical hands-on supervision, at the beginning of my brand new career. Last but certainly not least, I’ve learned from Daniel Kahneman, who wrote the brilliant book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”. In my humble opinion, there’s no shortage of System 1 ‘fast’ thinking – which seemingly and unfortunately feeds nearsighted choices, resulting in regrettable impulsivities and compulsive unhealthy coping habits. Most of my personal, relational and professional growth has resulted from System 2 ‘slow’ thinking – intentional, mindful being, what is sometimes referred to as “right-brained” living. We are predominantly social right-brain beings, not human doings.

Website: https://www.terrybohn.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrybohn

Image Credits
All photos by and property of Terry Bohn