About Me
Shelby Nolan, MA, LPC
Licensed Professional Counselor in Denver, Colorado
Image Description: Shelby is a white femme person with pink, blue, and purple hair (at least at the time) standing on a sidewalk wearing a white top with black flowers and black pants. She is standing with one leg bent and looking over her shoulder.
What to say about myself…
I felt different for a long time, and it was even longer before I considered this to be a good thing. I’ve spent a lot of time and done a lot of work to explore myself and my past. I realized that being neurodivergent, queer, and introspective weren’t qualities or identities I needed to hide, change, or mask. I realized that the perspective these qualities and identities offered me was exactly what I always needed. I often see things differently than others, and it’s a gift more than a hindrance. I hope to show others that their brains are wonderful, as is. We are what we need to be, even if the journey to the present wasn’t always what we deserved.
More traditional information about me: I grew up in the South in East Texas, which had specific cultural implications and expectations. I received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology and Spanish in 2014 and during my undergraduate studies I studied abroad in Italy and Spain. In 2022 I graduated with my Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. In the gap between those degrees, I was a teacher, a behavioral therapist, and a personal trainer. I still love lifting and other forms of movement, and when I’m not working I love to read, travel, play video games, hike, and write poetry. I can speak Spanish, although not at a clinical level. I am also working on learning Japanese.
I am far from a blank-slate therapist. I often use analogies and metaphors from powerlifting, anime, fantasy novels, and Instagram reels. It is my hope that, by bringing all the nerdy, silly, passionate, and knowledgeable Parts of myself into the room, you feel invited to do the same with the Parts that you have been told are unacceptable. I want those Parts to feel encouraged and appreciated in the space we create together, because they always deserved that kind of treatment. We grow best without diminishment.
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