Meet Randy Bonnom

Today we’d like to introduce you to Randy Bonnom.

Randy, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My professional journey in psychotherapy began in a most unprofessional way. It started in the trenches of recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction, beginning with my own. After mitigating a background of trauma and conflict with two decades of booze and drugs, my survival compelled me to find a way to become truly alive for the first time. Getting halfway to mental health wouldn’t last.

However, as I recovered and began to help others do the same, a model emerged that appealed to and worked for the outlaws and refugees, the successful but empty-hearted citizen, and all the zombies in between. My therapy practice was born in jails, hospitals, coffee shops and institutions, and that training were as important as all the research and education along the way. Mine is a very individualized “business”, every client unique, and my personal involvement in the heart of treatment. Turns out we’re all just moving toward a happy life in a toxic world, and none of us gets there alone. So… from waking up in detox to paying for an office with letters behind my name, the work remains the same. “Better” does exist, and I try to help people get there.

Has it been a smooth road?
Mine has not been a smooth road… sometimes there was no road. Yet it’s hard to identify “obstacles” on this path since the hard aspects just felt like the richest classes in this crazy grad school of my life. Wow, that sounds like such a cliche’. Trust me, I didn’t do much of this gracefully. Or even cheerfully. I funded my early days with a series of for-real blue-collar jobs, learned how to be a divorced dad, struggled with family and community, and above all discovered that working in the field of psychotherapy does NOT guarantee one sobriety or mental health.

Still… without the potholes in the road, would I have kept paying attention? Would I have less to offer my clients? Would I be married now to my dream girl, my child grown up well, still be sober? Naw… this path was fine. All of it.

Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
I’m a licensed counselor in the State of Colorado specializing in addiction and trauma but qualified to treat most areas of mental illness. This is handy since they all go together. I’m in private practice, which basically means that when you call my professional number (720-309-4107) you get… me.

What sets me apart, my specialty, and what I’m most proud of in practice are essentially the same: it’s my approach, the nature of my practice. I have a holistic approach that addresses mind, body, heart, and spirit all the time. To focus only on one layer might allow one to produce some cool and quantifiable results in short term, but I’m cheating you if I do. Also, if you’re my client our time together is all about YOU. You’re a unique and sacred being, and that’s how you’re addressed. Even if wife/husband/parents or courts sent you, even if you’re convinced you’re a loser, or you’re angry or broke, or… your journey is what matters to me.

This approach doesn’t include diagnoses, labels, or judgement. Of course, we deal with the causes and conditions of your troubles, because if the source isn’t addressed it will rise to the surface again. But even more importantly, recovery/mental health/wellness involves a journey to the discovery of one’s dreams, and use them to become truly alive. That’s our goal.

This is not something we’re taught in this culture. The experience of becoming truly alive, as the unique person we were born to be, is the heart of healing. My art was born of my experience and continues to be. I guess it’s not a business, really… but it is the best job in the world.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Ahh… I could rave about Denver and most of Colorado all day. Coming from the Midwest, “better” includes: weather, culture, the land itself, opportunities for individual growth, the economy. Yet it’s the energy of the people here that infuses all the rest; upbeat and determined, a celebration of life.

I least like the unbridled colonization of the Colorado landscape. All these new McMansions are not bio-degradable. Yet, since I immigrated here from Chicago in 1978, I try to temper my distaste.

Pricing:

• My fee is $90.00 an hour. I do allow a sliding scale, but it has to be a special case.

Contact Info:

• Address: 7105 La Vista Place Suite 150, Longmont CO. 80503
• Website: randybonnomtherapy.com
• Phone: 720-309-4107
• Email: randy.bonnom@gmail.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.