We’re looking forward to introducing you to BeX Kagan. Check out our conversation below.
BeX, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
My dog, “Rumi” just turned 13 years old this year and she is one of the loves of my life. She is currently staring at me while I type this and her humanness brings me so much Joy. She’s funny, opinionated, boundaried, playful, and the world’s best snuggler. We just got back from a solo trip just the two of us where we stayed in a cabin deep into the snowy woods of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. She was in Heaven with how quiet and cozy it was there by the fireplace.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m BeX. (Yes with a capital X.. my running joke is that I have a capital X because I’m “BeXtra)..
I’ve been a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) serving the Denver community for over 13 years. I earned my MA in Counseling Psychology from a three year multicultural counseling graduate school program and was “raised” in the mental health field for 4.5 years by the team(s) that responded to the Columbine massacre at Jefferson Center for Mental Health.
I aim to bring a vivacious spirit, calm yet fierce demeanor, and the presence of allyship to my therapeutic relationships with my clients and I see my professional relationships as sacred. As a therapist and a person, I strive to be a little bit different as I am very “outside of the box” as a therapist using appropriate humor and laughter, feeling big feelings together in sessions, incorporating music, song lyrics, art, and walk & talk therapy sessions in my integrative approach. My approach to psychotherapy pulls from a deeply social justice lens utilizing a wide array of therapeutic modalities including feministic theory, diversity equity and inclusion// privilege power and oppression, assertiveness training, existentialism, person centered, solution focused, some CBT and DBT, ACT, existentialism, psychodynamic, and a lot of narrative therapy too.
As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), I’ve spent over ten years of my career working in nonprofit organizations and have always specialized in working almost primarily with marginalized communities. I spent three additional years creating and implementing mental health wellness programs that didn’t exist before my arrival, including being the first Dual Director of Student Life & Wellness for a national college prep program for first generation low income teenagers. This was probably my favorite job I’ve had so far and it showed as my 17 interns and I earned ourselves a lot of pride as having the best Wellness data in the entire national nonprofit to this day at College Track Denver.
I did a 4-year stint in solo private practice and found this to be a bit too isolating for my personality so I closed my practice and shifted my path, bringing many of my clients with me.
I am artistically inclined, musically engaged, nature and social justice-loving, and I believe in the deep and healing power of psychotherapy. I believe now, in these unprecedented times, that “we are better together” and really try to model the quote “Shame dies when stories are told in safe places” in my therapy sessions with my awesome clients. I believe everyone deserves a spot on a therapy couch, has access to therapy, and everyone needs and could benefit from doing their own personal growth and development work.
A year ago, I made one of the best decisions of my career and joined Deeper Roots Family Counseling as our team’s “Senior Therapist” I strive to hold space for others with deep empathy, offer “a feeling of being seen,” and am compassionately direct with my clients naming the elephant in the room or pointing out potential blind spots. That said, I do this with warmth and sometimes humor. I am known for having very strong therapeutic alliances with my clients.
I believe a great therapy session is one in which my client can allow themselves to both cry and laugh in one session. My favorite clients to work with are: Womyn, POC/BIPOC, the “Teeny Boppers of America” (Teens), all LGBTQIA+ folx, highly sensitive people (HSPs) and empaths, survivors of narcissistic abuse, divorce, religious trauma, and I really love working with other helpers: teachers, therapists, lawyers, grass roots professionals, medical professionals, etc.
I believe I became a therapist at 10 years old and so my entire life has been committed to this work and I feel very blessed that I get to wake up everyday and do something that is soul’s work for me. It is very full circle work for me.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I was misdiagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder when I was 20 years old and then misdiagnosed again with ADHD. There’s more to say on this that I’m not sure I’m ready to discuss quite yet publicly but these experiences and much of my struggles in my youth are the reason I love working with teenagers now. I could have deeply used a therapist like me as a kid but you know.. it was the 1980’s/1990’s and that wasn’t as common of a thing, I guess.
Because of my own traumas and experiences, I am very keen on diagnosis and spent the first 4.5 years of my career working with SPMI (Severe and Persistent Mental Illness) folx and diagnosis was the way we got them treatment through Medicaid. I’ve made it my career commitment to take every action possible not to misdiagnose a client in the way my real life experiences and symptoms were overlooked and misunderstood as a young woman.
Like I said, this work for me is very full circle.
Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
Yes, I had many many many teachers, coaches, and mentors who listened to me throughout my childhood. I often say I was raised by an entire village of adults (and my best friends) in Virginia Beach, VA.
People that come to mind who probably both saved my life and changed my life as a kid:
*Jennifer Dye (my middle school basketball coach)
*Kendall Tata (my high school XC coach)
*Donna Lewis (my best friend’s Mom) – deceased this year <3
*Lee Duberstein & Roger Duberstein (my childhood boyfriend’s parents) – deceased by the time we were 35.
*Steve Bercov- (the first therapist who really understood and helped me) – deceased when I was 29.
*Diane Newell (my best friend’s Mom)
*Marti Mansfield (my first psychology teacher in high school & varsity sports athletic trainer)
*Addie Anderson (my elementary school music teacher)
*Pete Reichle (my college “Relationships” teacher at Appalachian State University and psychology mentor)
*Dr. Marsha Wiggins (the Director of my grad school program at UC Denver)
*Dr. Cindy Morris (my own therapist who I’ve been working with her individual therapy for over 15 years- my entire career)
*Dr. Matthew Enright (one of my mentors at JCMH on the Emergency Services Team)
And so many more, honestly. I was a kid who very clearly needed a lot of emotional support and I’m thankful that so many people were paying attention. All of these souls deeply listened to me and guided my journey. I don’t know where or who I would be had it not been for their unconditional love, support, and belief in me. They have helped me become the woman and psychotherapist that I am today.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes. I’m much more vulnerable and honest about both hard things and good things than most people feel comfortable with but I do it on purpose to model that vulnerability is healing and there is nothing heroic about suffering in silence. This level of honesty and authenticity is the golden thread of who I am.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What will you regret not doing?
I’ll regret not traveling more. I will also regret not remembering to Play and engage in things/people who bring me Joy.
So those are some my focuses of 2026.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.deeperrootsfamilycounseling.com/therapists
- Instagram: @bexkagan_ma_lpc
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/
Image Credits
The Fall leaves pic please put down Carl Fuermann
