Rising Stars: Meet Louis Carlino of Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Louis Carlino.

Hi Louis, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was a psychology/philosophy major in college and planned to go to graduate school to train to be a therapist. Life took unexpected turns and that didn’t happen until 25 years after I graduated. After getting bogged down in IT for over 20 years, I launched a second career. In 2006, I began a graduate program in Somatic Counseling Psychotherapy at Naropa University in Boulder CO. I felt that I got back on track and finally was pursuing a life path I was truly interested in. 16 years after graduating from Naropa, I have no regrets.

Prior to starting graduate school, I lived at a Yoga Ashram in central Virginia for 5 years. I went there to train to be a Yoga teacher. I loved immersing myself in a Yoga lifestyle and ended up staying. The experience had a profound effect on getting me in touch with what really mattered. It helped to align my life with my core values.

My somatic (body-based orientation) to psychotherapy is inspired by my lifelong practice of Yoga which I have practiced since I was 19 years old. I chose to study Somatic Psychotherapy for the purpose of integrating the deeper teachings of Yoga with contemporary therapeutic methods to support self-growth and transformation. Currently, I have a busy private practice in Boulder, CO supporting clients in taking a next step in their lives.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge was leaving a lucrative profession in IT and following what I felt was more of a calling. It was scary, and as I look back, I can’t believe I had the guts to do what I did.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a psychotherapist, I specialize in somatic psychotherapy. I utilize a combination of client-centered therapy with interventions borrowed from Yoga practices, a technique developed by Eugene Gendlin, known as Focusing, along with parts work inspired by by Richard Schwartz, the developer of Internal Family Systems. The combination allows clients to form an accepting and supportive relationship with themselves. By guiding clients to relate to themselves more openly, compassionately and with interested curiosity, an inner environment conducive to positive change happens. I have learned through my own life, and confirmed by working with my clients, that without transforming one’s relationship with oneself real change is not possible.

My approach is based in the conviction that we don’t need to add anything or become something more than who we are to reach toward our potential, but rather the goal is to remove the obstacles in the way. When negative thoughts, emotions and beliefs are cleared, a more vibrant, loving, confident, and natural dimension of who we are emerges. I believe that the purpose of therapy is to become more and more established in this liberated Self.

In addition to my training, and I believe more important, is my life experience. At 67 years old, I have lived a rich life with a wide variety of experiences both external and internal. The fact that I truly practice what I preach may be what sets me apart from others.

I am most proud of taking several big steps in my life that took a great amount of courage, like leaving a lucrative profession in my late 40s to pursue what I was really interested in.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Of course, hard work is important and without it I would not be where I am today. As far as luck is concerned, stumbling upon a book on Yoga practices in the late 1970s had the profoundest effect on my life. Inspired by that Yoga book, I kept up a practice through all the twists and turns of my life. Wandering the streets of New York City in the 1990s, I then stumbled upon a Yoga Center founded by Swami Satchidananda, the author of the book that was the inspiration of my Yoga practice. That coincidence then led me to take a Yoga teacher training program at Swami Satchidananda’s Ashram in central Virginia, which launched the second half of my life, set me back on a path aligned with my deepest values, and which led to my 2nd career as a psychotherapist.

Pricing:

• I take most insurances including Medicare and Medicaid, and my out-of-pocket charge for a therapy session is $125.00.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.BodyPsychYoga.com

Image Credits
In addition to my headshot, I’ve include my psychotherapy office from two angles, the outside of the building where I practice and a view of the lobby of the building where I practice.