Today we’d like to introduce you to Becky Howie.
Becky, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The road to becoming a successful psychotherapist and coach was a long and winding one, full of potholes and detours along the way. I spent ten years working in corporate and tech, running the rat race before I decided that wasn’t the right environment for me. I had to get good and miserable a couple of times first though before I was willing to give up my well-paid, respected position and search for another career. I felt so burned out that I was finally willing to stop trying to jam a square peg into a round hole and admit that the answer isn’t always “just try harder”.
I did all of the proverbial soul-searching, read every self-help book I could find, saw a therapist, and eventually resolved to leave my corporate job and become a therapist. I’ve always loved outdoor activities like climbing, hiking, skiing, etc., and found nature to be particularly healing for me when I was struggling. So when I discovered that wilderness therapy was a thing that people actually got paid to do for a living, I sat at my kitchen table and cried in shock. But I felt hope for my future for the first time in a long time.
The scariest thing I’ve ever done was to leave that comfortable corporate job, flip my entire life on its head, and start over to build a new, unknown future. I took community college classes, I left the friends and family I’d known my whole life to move 2,000 miles across the country for grad school in a state where I knew exactly ZERO people so that I could start a new life and a new career. And every single day, I’m so glad that I did.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Does anyone ever answer “yes” to this question? [smiles wryly] As FDR once said, “Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor”. And I definitely learned a lot of lessons the hard way. But I’ll tell you, I remember them really well now! And I’ve decided to pass that knowledge on to others so that they don’t also have to learn things the hard way.
Growing up, I didn’t know what it meant to be a highly sensitive person, let alone that it was a completely normal biological trait, like blue eyes or red hair. I just knew that I felt everything really deeply, was more strongly impacted by my surroundings and other people, and often struggled to stay balanced because of it. This meant that I spent a lot of time wondering “what’s wrong with me?” and feeling like I was broken but didn’t know why or how to “fix” it.
I muddled through most of high-school, college, and early adulthood doing as well as I could, putting on a brave face, and convincing others that things were absolutely fine. And by all outward appearances, I was pretty successful at it. (The following story might come as quite a surprise to many people I know). But on the inside, things felt very differently.
One moment stands out from the rest and I’ll never forget it. The year was 2004, I remember that vividly because it was the year the Boston Red Sox had finally broken the curse and won their first world series in decades, and the celebration parade was on TV. I had left work early that day because I just couldn’t hold myself together any longer. I was in a stressful job, an unhealthy relationship, and I didn’t know how much more I could take. I sat there on my bed, watching the Sox parade on TV without a single ounce of joy, and held a bottle of Tylenol in my hand… trying to decide if I wanted to be part of this world anymore or not.
I didn’t know it at the time, but that was a completely common (and totally unnecessary) experience for a highly sensitive person who didn’t understand or have support around their trait. Now obviously, given that you’re reading this article about my life since, you can see which choice I made. It took me a long time to crawl out of that dark hole. But with the help of my own therapist and a lot of hard work and learning along the way, I managed to create a wholly different, and much more joyful, life for myself that I lead today.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with NatureWise Counseling – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I started NatureWise Counseling, LLC as a way to pass on all the knowledge and lessons I’ve learned to others. I do that through in-person psychotherapy here in Boulder, CO and via video coaching for people all around the globe.
I love, love, LOVE working with Highly Sensitive People (HSPs). The challenges that HSPs seek me out for can vary widely (incl. stress management, anxiety treatment, depression treatment, relationship issues, work troubles, big transitions, etc.). I help HSPs manage the overwhelm that can sometimes accompany the trait so that their natural gifts can shine through. Once we learn to work with the trait instead of against it, HSPs can excel above and beyond their peers in ways they never thought possible. And I love watching my clients make that shift.
I work with adults and teens both individually and in groups. I incorporate a mix of traditional indoor talk therapy with outdoor walk & talk or other nature-based therapies, mindfulness, CBT and DBT to help clients calm their systems and make intentional choices rather than reacting due to stress or overwhelm. I offer workshops, lunch & learns, and groups for adults on stress management, where I teach mindfulness and nature-based techniques to help them tackle topics ranging from avoiding overwhelm to having difficult conversations and setting healthy boundaries in an effort to create more balance and peace in their busy lives.
Many people have never heard of the trait of high sensitivity, despite HSPs making up about 15-20% of the population. So I do a lot of education with my highly sensitive clients and their families about the trait, what it is, and what it isn’t (it’s NOT a diagnosis, disorder, or weakness). And I help them learn to recognize their unique strengths, create balance, and regulate their nervous systems in a world that is sometimes overwhelming because it is designed for the other 80%.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I’m super excited to be starting a Support & Skills Group for Highly Sensitive Teens in February 2020. I work with a lot of highly sensitive teens 1:1 in my practice and what I have seen is that each one of us thinks that we’re alone, that we are the only one struggling with this. But that’s not the case at all.
The new Highly Sensitive Teen group will be a place to bring together like-minded teens into a supportive community where they can learn that they’re not alone, they’re not broken, and that there are concrete skills they can use to help them combat common HSP challenges like overwhelm, perfectionism, people-pleasing, low self-esteem, a strong inner critic, school stress, anxiety, depression, and so much more.
In the longer-term, I am looking forward to refactoring the curriculum for my adult stress management group and making it available online to people around the globe. Because what I discovered after I developed it is that it’s really a survival guide for highly sensitive people, and the HSPs that have come through my stress management group have loved it and found it helpful in getting their lives back on track. So later in 2020, look for a new online course specially designed for highly sensitive people to help reduce overwhelm and create balance so that their natural gifts can shine through!
Pricing:
- $125 for a 50 minute individual session (a portion may be reimbursable by insurance).
- $50 per group (a portion may be reimbursable by insurance).
Contact Info:
- Address: 1650 38th Street, Suite 100E
Boulder, CO 80301 - Website: https://www.naturewisecounseling.com
- Phone: 720-381-2761
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: facebook.com/naturewisecounseling
Image Credit:
dantoniophotography.com and Big Review TV
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