Meet Shane Hodges of Life Balance Connections in Central Denver and The Front Range

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shane Hodges.

Shane, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a 20-year resident of Colorado and the founder of Life Balance Connections. I grew up in a very small Nebraska town, where there was no diversity. I experienced bullying for being different. In spite of that, my amazing parents raised me to have an open mind, respect others, and be myself.

Eventually, the values they instilled in me and a desire to help others led me to enter the mental health profession. When I was in my early 30s, I was unfulfilled in my job and knew I needed a significant change. After a decade of working in the corporate world, I put myself back in school and completed my Master’s degree in two and a half years. I quit my corporate job two weeks after graduation without having another job lined up… and have never looked back or had any regrets.

I started my journey in Mental Health by completing my internship working at a youth detention center. It was one of the most unexpectedly amazing experiences of my life and convinced me to change the population(s) I had planned to work with. After the internship, I worked in community mental health for approximately four years. While working that job, I started my private practice and established a small wellness center with a colleague. In October of 2014, I made the decision to leave the agency and focus full time on my practice and our wellness center.

Within a few weeks of leaving the agency, I realized the need for a solid referral base if I was going to be successful. That realization is what started me down the path to creating Life Balance Connections. It started as an email listserve with approximately twenty colleagues I knew and trusted. Three years later, after significant networking and one-on-one meetings with other wellness professionals, my list had grown to over 300! It was then I realized I needed to take things to the next level.

In January of 2018, I hired a friend to help me create a website to manage the group. I told him what I wanted, he created it, we rolled it out, and within two months, I realized I wanted more. It felt like I had failed and I had to step back for a few months to reevaluate how to move forward.

In August of 2018, I decided it was time to invest the big bucks and hire a website development firm if I wanted the site to have the functionality and technical backing, which was needed to move forward with the project. I chose a local firm, we worked together for several months, and were able to roll out the new platform of lifebalanceconnections.com in February of 2019.

Life Balance Connections currently has two major functions:
1. Become “the go to place” for mental health resources in the state of Colorado. We hope to provide a place where members of the community can go for information, search for a therapist or other wellness professional, and minimize the stigma around mental health by normalizing things they may be experiencing.
2. Create an outstanding community of quality, local, vetted mental health professionals. This is done by acting as a membership-based referral and networking group for counselors/therapists, psychiatrists, and other healing and wellness professionals in the Denver Metro and Front Range areas. Every potential member is vetted by a four-person Review Board. The Board looks at education, experience, years of experience, licensure, and also requests an essay outlining why a candidate feels they would be a good addition to the group.

As a Licensed Professional Counselor, and founder of Life Balance Connections, I have a few simple goals:
1. Positively impact the life of the clients and colleagues I encounter.
2. Maintain professionalism and integrity in my work as a therapist.
3. Work to minimize the negative stigma associated with mental health.

I believe the creation of Life Balance Connection will assist me, and others, in achieving these goals. This will occur by bringing together a like-minded group of trusted health and wellness professionals who believe in maintaining integrity in our work and providing quality services and resources to our amazing Colorado community.

Has it been a smooth road?
Getting to this point has definitely posed some challenges. Initially, I was doing all the networking and all the vetting. I enjoyed it, but it did take a lot of my time. Then, after the first roll out of the website, I realized I wanted something more and had to go back to the drawing board. Once I figured that out, it also became clear that it was going to cost significantly more money. When the updated platform of the website rolled out, the membership numbers were not coming in as quickly as I’d hoped. I also quickly realized that marketing the site was not my strong suit. Overall, things are moving in the right direction and I have learned so much.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Life Balance Connections story. Tell us more about your work.
Currently, I have a few different roles.
1. I am a mental health therapist/counselor. In that role, I work with clients ages 12 and above. I do individual, family, and a little bit of couples work. I enjoy working with the LGBTQ+ community and have significant experience working with clients who have experienced trauma.
2. I am the founder of Life Balance Connections. In that role, I continue to network with quality mental health and other wellness professionals in an effort to create a solid community of like-minded individuals. I feel that when we collaborate and share our experiences, we all grow.

3. I am the co-owner of Balance Holistic Wellness Center. My business partner and I have eight offices which we share with other healing and wellness professionals. Our goal is to create a professional, comfortable, and convenient setting where our diverse services bring better health, happiness, and vitality to clients and customers.
4. I offer business consultation to mental health professionals who are just starting out in private practice and/or are looking to expand their networking.

I think I am most proud of myself for not giving up on the vision I had for Life Balance Connections. Despite challenges, I know there is a benefit to creating, building, and maintaining this group. As for what sets me apart from others… I think it’s my outgoing personality and my candor. I prefer to be blunt, I love to be a cheerleader for others, and I speak my mind… even when the things I say may be difficult to hear. In my experience, colleagues and clients alike have responded well to my honest, direct, and sincere communication.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I expect significant changes in our profession. The field of mental health, in many ways, is still in its infancy. The past few decades have brought about a great deal of change, new research, and new methods. Based on what we have already seen, I predict the next decade will have even more change and growth.

It is my sincere hope that stigma attached to mental health will subside and more people will get the help they so desperately need. I also hope that reciprocity of licensure from state to state will become less of a hurdle. Moving forward, I believe we will start seeing more telehealth as well as other options that give clients greater flexibility in finding the most appropriate therapy or other necessary services.

Pricing:

• $24.99 for a monthly membership
• $260.00 for annual membership

Contact Info:

• Address: 1633 Fillmore St. #390
  Denver, CO 80206
• Website: https://lifebalanceconnections.com/
• Phone: 7202619537
• Email: shane@shanehodgescounseling.com

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.