Addiction therapists & psychiatrists in Colorado Springs, CO

You’re here because something in your life feels heavy, confusing, or just off. Maybe you’ve been strong for everyone else for years and you’re finally wondering, “Who’s taking care of me?” Maybe you’re in a season where you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or stuck in patterns you can’t seem to break. You might look fine on the outside—but inside, you’re tired, disconnected, or longing for a real change.

I get it. Most of the client's I work with feel exactly that way before they reach out. They’re smart, capable, and resilient... but they’re also carrying a lot. Life transitions, relationships, trauma, people-pleasing, burnout, old coping habits—they add up. I help my clients' slow down, and understand what’s driving them.

I have been practicing 25 years. I have walked the path of life and its difficulties through lived experience

Hello! I am so glad you are here.

You know something needs to change. Perhaps you're tired of painful relationship patterns, struggling with addiction, or finding that the past still affects your life. I help individuals work through trauma, anxiety, family concerns, and major transitions with honest conversation and practical steps toward change.

I also help couples rebuild trust after infidelity or addiction, address chronic conflict, and reconnect after emotional distance. Whether you want to repair your relationship or decide whether to separate, we'll work toward clarity.

I'm a Colorado Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC). My approach is warm, direct, and focused on helping you move forward.

I'm Nicole Shelton, a double board-certified Psychiatric-Mental Health and Family Nurse Practitioner (APRN, PMHNP, FNP). My experience in ICU and the ER informs my holistic approach to care. I specialize in treating anxiety, depression, substance use, and trauma across the lifespan. As a military wife and mother, I emphasize lifestyle balance, encouraging patients to integrate nutrition and exercise. I am dedicated to breaking mental health stigma and advocating for veterans and those impacted by trauma, ensuring you feel seen, supported, and empowered on your journey.

I have been a therapist for over a decade, supporting various client types. I have a Master's Degree from Colorado Christian University, and enjoy working with people from various backgrounds. I am EMDR trained, and also enjoy working with various other modalities including IFS parts work and Somatic techniques.

We all have a manual that I call a life manual. This life manual was created over time from childhood experiences, transitions, emotional reactions, attachments, and traumatic events that may have occurred. When we meet someone, whether it be a co-worker, barista, or significant relationship, we continually respond and react from the frame work of our own life manual. Sometimes, that manual has created unhealthy reactions and expectations; the patterns that emerge leave us feeling lost or unfulfilled. Good news: You can create new patterns and start re-writing that manual for a healthy future.

Hi, my name is Austin and welcome to my private practice. As a man who has been deeply affected and healed by counseling, I get the need and role of counseling firsthand. This is why I love counseling: I believe humans were created to share their stories and to work through difficulties together. Counseling is my life’s passion. I am truly honored and delighted to now walk alongside others in dark places toward durable hope and lasting change.

I am personally acquainted with the pain of grief. After the loss of my mother to suicide, I began a counseling journey that revealed many unexplored areas in my life that needed compassion and care. These experiences have brought me face to face with life’s difficulties.

I received my Bachelor’s Degree from the United States Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, CO) in Foreign Area Studies (Russia and Eastern Europe). After graduation, I worked as a military aviator and US Air Force Officer in domestic and international locations. I returned to graduate school to pursue a Master’s of Arts in Counseling and a Master’s of Divinity at Covenant Theological Seminary. Over the years, as a counselor, I have worked in a community-based counseling center, as a staff counselor for a church counseling center, and I am now in independent practice, working with men, veterans, couples, and families navigating trauma and PTSD, and the many ups and downs of life.

I have traveled throughout the world during my Air Force career. Seeing the many ways humans experience the world, in all its pain and joy, has only increased my passion to care for others. From working with teenagers and their struggles to individuals seeking hope to the married couple with decades of experience to everyone in between. I love working with people who are struggling and want change.

I believe meaningful change begins with feeling understood. As both a therapist and Air Force veteran, I value authenticity, resilience, and the importance of genuine human connection. Clients often describe me as approachable, thoughtful, and direct when needed. I strive to create a space where you can show up as you are and feel supported as you work toward your goals.

I work with adults and older teens navigating addiction, trauma, co-occurring mental health concerns, and life transitions. I am experienced in supporting veterans, first responders, and those impacted by a loved one's substance use. Whether you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or simply ready for change, my goal is to help you better understand your experiences and move forward with greater confidence.

I believe in utilizing a strengths-based approach to help my clients in becoming the best versions of themselves.

I currently offer individual counseling focused on trauma and co-occurring disorders, including substance abuse issues.

I take a fresh, integrative approach to individualized psychotherapy, tailoring my treatment approach to each client's unique needs and goals. My work is grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which helps clients better understand and regulate their thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and reactions.

I also incorporate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), helping clients develop greater acceptance of difficult emotions and circumstances that may be out of their control while taking meaningful action aligned with their personal values. With seven years of experience as a Group Facilitator and Individual Therapist in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), I utilize evidence-based skills and mindfulness practices to help clients improve emotional regulation, increase self-awareness, and build resilience.

I’m a psychiatric nurse practitioner who works from the belief that people are not broken—and that many of the struggles we call “mental illness” make sense when we look at trauma, context, and lived experience. I’m especially attuned to the ways mental health systems, stigma, and labels can unintentionally cause harm, and I aim to practice in a way that feels respectful, collaborative, and deeply human.

My approach is unconventional and trauma-informed, influenced by perspectives like those of Gabor Maté, which emphasize compassion, curiosity, and understanding symptoms as meaningful responses rather than defects. I do not believe in rushing to pathologize the human experience. As Joni Mitchell once reflected about depression, sometimes what we’re feeling is not an illness to be fixed, but a signal—an honest response to pain, loss, or a world that has not been kind.

My goal is to provide you with a safe, emotional space where you will feel comfortable, relaxed and know that you are being heard. I want you to be able to express yourself freely without any fear of judgement. Healing takes place when you are able to be open, honest and vulnerable. Throughout my practice, it has been an honor to help facilitate extraordinary transformation in the lives of my clients. Believe me when I say that, “Anything is possible,” as I have witnessed my clients overcome trauma, grief, depression, anxiety and hardcore drug addiction.

Often, our feelings of shame, hurt and fear rob us of the opportunity to experience true joy and fulfillment in our lives. Do you find yourself running from these feelings or always fighting against them? Instead, I can help you embrace them and work through them. It is through this process of transformation where you learn to find acceptance, meaning

and purpose in your life. This leads to living with self-authenticity, and this is when you experience true joy and fulfillment. I look forward to being your catalyst for change. Together, we will take this journey and progress at your own pace. I encourage you to take the first step and make an appointment. Your life is worth it!