Lillian Ramey, LCSW

I have been practicing as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for the past 16 years with individuals and families of all ages and issues. My current practice focuses on adolescents and adults with an emphasis on treating complex issues and utilizing EMDR to heal trauma and enhance perfomance.

I began my career with an MSW from the University of Texas in Austin and moved right into working with youth in a wilderness camp and then the elderly in Hospice before landing in an agency serving high risk youth and families in Lincoln, Nebraska. With such a variety of experiences I kept finding that the most important lessons are not those learned in school but what we learn from each other. One of the most powerful lessons for me to realize in my work and my own personal life is that change only happens when we become truly uncomfortable enough to do something different.

After moving to Durango, Colorado in 2001, I worked in Community Mental Health for 9 years where I had the opportunity to learn even more about working with complex issues in adults. As both a therapist and a supervisor, I was fortunate to be able to increase my effectiveness at many levels through excellent training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Over the course of the last few years I have focused my work around mindfulness based practices to heal from trauma and other lifelong issues. I have come to a place where I emphasize the importance of integration between the mind and body in our healing process as I have witnessed much deeper and more complete growth and healing from this perspective. As a part of this journey I have become a Consultant and Trainer in EMDR and enjoy teaching others this therapeutic paradigm.

My personal approach to therapy combines concepts from DBT, EMDR, and Solution-focused treatment, within a Cognitive Behavioral framework. I believe in integrating the key aspects of various treatment modalities that will best meet the needs of the individual client. I also emphasize the importance of addressing the spiritual aspects of ourselves in treatment. I respect each person’s individual beliefs and am comfortable bringing spiritual practices into treatment as it can offer a valuable resource in the healing process.

In my own personal life I keep coming back to the awareness that life is an experience. There will be parts of that experience that we wish would never end and there will be parts of that experience that we would like to forget, but they are all just steps that help us bring purpose and meaning to our lives.

In my practice I work with a variety of issues including:
• Trauma recovery
• Depression / Anxiety
• Grief and loss
• Family conflict
• Performance enhancement
• Personal growth

Lillian Ramey, LCSW - 970.749.4491
lillian@riversagecounseling.com