Your therapist

Gabriel Bernier, therapist, Durango, Colorado

For support with

  • Relationship issues

  • Couples counseling

  • Life transitions

  • Existential concerns

  • Anxiety + Depression

Education

  • BA in literature, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts

  • MA in anthropology, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

  • MA in mental health counseling, Adams State University, Alamosa, Colorado

(Some) seminal experiences

  • Backpacking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in a college orientation program

  • My father’s struggle with alcoholism and his early death

  • Growing up white and with tribal membership (Anishinaabe), working at the Bad River reservation as a young adult

  • Reconciling adolescent idealism with the demands of modern survival through a meandering work and career journey

  • Turning 40, and facing the second half of life

  • Marrying and becoming a stepfather

Gabriel Bernier, MA, LPC

My approach to counseling

As a species, we’ve spent hundreds of thousands of years developing a physiology that relies on connection, collaboration, and companionship. In my experience, therapy only works when you and I develop a trusting, mutual relationship.

As we develop this relationship, we’ll explore the underlying beliefs you hold about yourself and the world you inhabit, and how these relate to patterns of behavior that shape your relationships and what you create in your life.

Once we identify these beliefs, we can challenge their veracity—does the logic hold? Is that belief true, absolutely and always? What happens if we try doing something different? Does that change the outcome?

I mostly use a blend of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Reality Therapy, and Mindfulness-based Somatic Emotional Processing (MBSEP) in a client-centered approach.

Personal + professional influences

In and around the field of mental health counseling:

  • John Gottman, Brené Brown, Carl Rogers, Gabor Maté, Aaron Beck, my dad, et. al.

Intellectually:

  • Buddhist thought, existentialism, physics and astronomy, cultural anthropology (structural functionalism), Anishinaabeg and other indigenous frameworks, ecology

In literature:

  • Hermann Hesse, Henry James, Jack Kerouac, and a thousand wonderful works of fiction that help illuminate the human condition.

My interpersonal style tends to be “folksy,” as opposed to a more “clinical” style you might find in some therapists. My style won’t work for everyone, but neither will a clinical style. Your fit with your therapist is critical. The best place to begin is with a phone call.

I encourage you to call me at 970-426-5859 and we can see if there’s a fit.

Gabriel Bernier providing individual counseling in Durango, Colorado.