Holly Brooks, LCSW

About Holly

Becoming a therapist was one of two things I always figured I’d do, teach high school or do this. I went through a lot growing up, and then you hit your twenties and realize how much all of it actually shaped you, and I wanted to be there for other people going through the same.

The moment it clicked was one of my first shifts at a homeless shelter in my hometown. One of the guests was someone I’d known in high school, and his family ended up working with me there. Piecing it together, it was clear he’d had a psychotic break, and just as clear that he’d needed real help years earlier and couldn’t get it, because the western slope is such a mental health desert. That was it for me. I went into social work so I could treat mental illness and do something about that gap.

Outside of work, I started doing jiu-jitsu in the last year, an accidental find that’s done a lot for my own confidence. And a lot of what fills me up is just hanging out with my kids, who are 14 and 11, and listening to them go off about everyday life. They’re opinionated humans, and it’s healing to be around people connecting in ways that have nothing to do with the therapy room. One thing I always wish clients would stop apologizing for is crying. It’s a stress response, you’re releasing stress hormones, so let it come. I’ll cry with you.

Holly’s Approach to Care

Two books shaped how I work, *Why Therapy Works* and Yalom’s *The Gift of Therapy*, and both land on the same thing: the healing starts in the relationship. From there we bring in the evidence-based work. Sometimes that’s cognitive behavioral, sometimes dialectical behavioral, very often EMDR, and which direction my brain goes depends entirely on the person in front of me. But it always starts with relationship, and then we reach into the toolbag.

In the last year and a half I’ve found a strong sense of purpose working with people healing from narcissistic abuse, whether that’s familial, systemic, or in the workplace. Where I’m not the right fit is when someone comes in only to be validated and isn’t there to look at how they can influence their own life. The people I struggle with are the ones who want to complain about the thing and make no changes. If you’re here to see how you can move your own life, we’ll do good work.

EMDR is a big part of that, and I get the skepticism because I was the skeptic. I got told I was signed up for the training, went, and very out of character volunteered for something that changed my whole life. There’s a mountain of science behind it if you want to read it, and EMDR tends to give relief a lot quicker than talk therapy. It can also be overwhelming in the first few sessions, so sometimes talk therapy comes first, and one leads to the other. On anxiety, I lean on Socratic questioning, helping you step outside your own anxious read and see it the way someone else might. I’ve been treated for panic disorder myself, with generalized anxiety underneath it, and what that taught me is that telling someone their fear isn’t rational does nothing. So we take the fear seriously, talk through the worst and best cases, and build from there.

Holly’s education and experience

I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I’m based in Montrose, just over the San Juan Mountains from Durango. My first work as a therapist was in telehealth, as an intern with USC Telehealth, which is part of why I trust it as much as I do. I’m trained in EMDR, and I draw on DBT, ACT, and CBT depending on the person. I’ve worked with elderly folks and people too far out to drive into town, and I’ve done virtual EMDR with people after a car accident, before they were ready to get back in a car, so telehealth meets real needs in rural Colorado.

Holly’s license information

Credential: Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
State: Colorado