Meet Christopher “CJ” Kopper of Trust in Your Goodness Counseling, LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher “CJ” Kopper.

Hi CJ, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Growing up was not without its challenges. It felt like I was living between two worlds. One of strife and one of safety. In my teenage years, I was granted legal decision making regarding my custodial situation. Looking back, this was a pinnacle moment of my childhood in finally reaching the physiological and emotional safety that every child deserves. I think a professional seed was planted in my mind when I worked with a child psychologist as a little boy to help me navigate a challenging familial divorce. I remember feeling seen and accepted, which was irreplicable as an experience during my childhood. My mom was also a school social worker and psychologist during her professional career, so I am sure this had some influence as well! I didn’t really consider entering the world of therapeutic professionals until I was living abroad in Veneto, Italy after I graduated college with a degree in psychology. I was an au’ pair (babysitter) for a young boy with down syndrome and autism. It really led me to a place where I wanted to work in uplifting and supporting people from different backgrounds than me. We were able to develop a beautiful relationship, and I am truly grateful that I still maintain a close relationship with him today.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Life has certainly not been without its challenges. I experienced a very traumatic car accident in my early twenties that led to me seeking personal therapy after the incident. I’ve been really fortunate to have wonderful therapeutic supports along the way. I reflect on the different therapeutic modalities one can access in Colorado, and I now find it incredible to practice in our great state now that I am on this journey and see all the different modalities that clinicians can offer here.
When I’m not in my practice, I find an immense amount of comfort and self-understanding in creating writing and writing poetry. Additionally, I am blessed to have had some amazing animal companions along the way during my twenties as I navigated graduate school and my post-secondary experiences. Despite the challenges of working in the K-12 field as a school counselor, I also find myself quite often reflecting back on the therapeutic relationships that the students that I worked with and I were able to develop together.
In my experience, one of the hardest barriers of entering the world of private practice were my experiences as a school counselor being communicated as a potential detriment to working in private practice. In particular, I can recall being asked on a handful of occasions in interviews if it would be ‘hard’ for me to work with individuals for 50-60 minute time allotments. This was rather disconcerting when I reflected on the variety of experience I gained from working with students from different backgrounds every day in the schools I worked in. I still maintain this day that being a private practitioner is less demanding than school counseling. Fortunately, I was able to find an agency that saw my experiences as an asset to becoming a practitioner before eventually branching off into forming my own practice.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The name of my practice is a joyful ode to the relationship that I have cultivated with my mother through my lifespan and speaks to a moment in time that I shared with her during my graduate education.
I am most proud of the diverse clientele that I support. I genuinely love working with clients of all ages and backgrounds. The only demographic that I don’t work with are elementary age children as that age group doesn’t fall into my expertise (..still love that age demographic, however!). I take great pride and see it as part of my professional legacy in supporting and uplifting the queer community and individuals with OCD. You will often see teenagers, young adults, college students, and individuals in their 30’s in my office from a wide range of backgrounds. I think my clients would say about me that I help therapy to feel ‘less therapy-y’. I take pride in being reachable as a warm clinician with my clients. I want them to trust in our ability to build a strong, supportive therapeutic relationship. I want them to feel that I am accessible in receiving their feedback for me as part of their therapeutic process. Additionally, my clients know that my services vary in setting! I offer walk-and talks, set up outdoor activities with appropriate permission and recognition of client abilities and access, and love to be able to meet where clients are at to help therapy feel more accessible. I offer telehealth services as well.
I am also proud to be able to offer sliding scales in my practice to help meet my clients where they are at financially. My moto that I share with clients is, “I am not here to price you out of therapy.” I am preparing to receive my full licensure (LPC) by the end of this year, and I plan to begin accepting Medicaid afterwards. Additionally, I hope to branch out into advertising my services in working with single parents. This is something that I feel immensely passionate about in cultivating more as a therapeutic demographic into the future.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Like many will say who you talk to, the lack of various forms of diversity in Fort Collins is a concern. Many people I meet who are new to Fort Collins area will acknowledge as well, almost immediately, the lack of racial diversity in the area. Since I attended Colorado State University from 2017-2019, however, I have perceived a continuously expanding queer community in Fort Collins. Also, I have been so very impressed with the amount of political activism I have seen in larger communities like Fort Collins to smaller communities like Berthoud. I believe that this helps to combat the racial and financial inequities that you see in our communities. We have to continue putting our hands to work, whether through political advocacy, volunteering, or uplifting our friends, families, and neighbors. It all matters.

Pricing:

• Regular Fee: $120
• Sliding scale: Down to $80
• Exceptions on sliding scale for rare circumstances (e.g., high school student looking for anonymity in accessing counseling services but can only afford, let’s say, $20 a week for a session from a part time job.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.trustinyourgoodnesscounseling.com/
• Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/christopher-james-kopper-ne-roland-fort-collins-co/1041497

Image Credits
No photographer credits.