Meet Our Staff
“Let the beauty we live be what we do.” – Rumi
Therapists
Katie Asmus, MA, LPC, BMP is a licensed psychotherapist, life coach, teacher, mentor and wilderness guide with over 25 years of professional experience working with people in and out of the wilderness. Katie incorporates body-mind connection, the natural world, expressive arts and contemplative awareness into her work with others. She works with individuals as well as groups to bring forth their innate wisdom and to support them in opening their minds and hearts to greater possibilities. Read More
Kristina Benson, MA, LPC, works from an understanding that the mind and body are inherently connected and that we must continue cultivating a symbiotic relationship between the two. She has an active mindfulness practice, which guides the way she approaches her work—slowly, with genuine interest, and with an open heart. The modalities that inform her work are non-violent communication, attachment theory, nature-based therapy, Ecopsychology, mindfulness, and humanistic psychology. Read More
Jaycee Cole, MA, LPCC works with nature-based therapy, somatic awareness, EMDR, and mindfulness, as well as the integration of radical imagination as a practical tool for alignment and growth. She is trained to work with individuals and couples through motivational interviewing, balance coaching, the Enneagram, Positive Intelligence, and groups utilizing the Co-Active Leadership Model, and has experience facilitating wilderness, traumatic brain injury, and professional leadership groups. Read More
Barbora Dolejšová, MA, LPC, practices a relationship-centered approach to therapy that takes into account social location, power dynamics, and oppression. She helps you trust your own body’s wisdom to create your own definition of a thriving life and healthy relationships. Her work is grounded in somatic and trauma-informed psychotherapy, attachment theory, depth work, and nature-based psychotherapy. She is also informed by DBT, ACT, MI, IFS, and mindfulness and works with a variety of issues, including relationship challenges, pregnancy and postpartum, trauma, grief, life transitions, body image, depression, and spirituality. Read More
Kelsey Middleton, MA, LPCC holds the belief that all human beings hold the capacity to heal within themselves, and that there is a tremendous amount of room for healing to occur. The heart of healing is being present and compassionate to what is, while also being supported and witnessed in that presence and compassion.
As a therapist, she holds a holistic therapeutic approach, appreciating how the mind, body, and spirit all contribute to health, well-being, and balance. Kelsey offers a variety of therapeutic interventions including mindfulness, somatic embodiment, nature-connection, art-based, and creative expression. We can meet for sessions inside, outside, or weave between the two. Read More
Therapists - In Clinical Internship
Kelsey Loupy, PhD invites the power of relationships into personal and collective wellbeing. After years of researching and embodying the body-mind connection, she decided to go back to school for Transpersonal Wilderness Therapy at Naropa University, planting her feet somewhere between the measurable and immeasurable.
Kelsey’s approach to therapy is primarily body-centered, which means that she trusts the unique wisdom of your unique body. She also combines a mixture of attachment, existential, parts work, mindfulness, and nature-based therapy modalities to help you listen and remember your instincts. She believes that our outer wilderness reflects our inner wilderness, choice is a sign of health, and joy is a radical expression in an often oppressive world.
Imagine wandering down the trail of your soul. This trail is safe, you are the guide, and Kelsey is with you. Together, you can identify emotions or areas of life that feel “overgrown,” “blocked,” or “lost.” You can follow the body’s internal map toward what feels good– resourcing, relieving, empowering, or fulfilling– to help you find your way.
Kelsey finds her own peace, resilience, and spiritual connection through outdoor adventure quests, for example backpacking, bike touring, and rafting. She incorporates these activities and other types of wilderness quests into her therapeutic work, and she offers integration support for folks returning from big life experiences. Read more.
Jess Arneson is human and has an animal body—just like you. Her work is rooted in earth-based wisdom. She is guided by relationship with the wilderness, both within us and around us. She believes that humans are inherently whole, carrying our own knowing.
Jess sees the therapeutic relationship as a space to tap into the intuition and truth already within you. Through listening, embodied awareness, and relational support, you will attune to the wisdom that emerges through connection. This process honors both depth and playfulness.
She is currently completing a Masters in the Wilderness Therapy program at Naropa and her internship at the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute. Jess integrates ancestral skills such as hunting, storytelling, hide tanning, and fire-making—not just as tools, but as living metaphors for intuition and remembering who we are. Her approach welcomes raw expression, play, and present moment exploration. Read more.
Ann-Marie Chmielewski is a nature-based chaplain. As a nature-based chaplain, her role is to support you in exploring questions of meaning, purpose, identity, values, and belonging—especially as they arise through your relationship with the natural world. Ann-Marie offers a grounded, compassionate, and nonjudgmental space where you can reflect on your spiritual and existential journey, including your connection to land, place, ancestors, seasons, and the more-than-human world. Read more.
Rites of Passage & Quest Guides
Katie Asmus, MA, LPC, BMP is a licensed psychotherapist, life coach, teacher, mentor and wilderness guide with over 25 years of professional experience working with people in and out of the wilderness. Katie incorporates body-mind connection, the natural world, expressive arts and contemplative awareness into her work with others. She works with individuals as well as groups to bring forth their innate wisdom and to support them in opening their minds and hearts to greater possibilities. Read More
Lisa Kennemur, MA, Lisa marries her love of nature and of helping others with her work supporting people in discovering their own inner wisdom and innate tendency towards healing. Having navigated several major life changes (including leaving her nearly 25-year career in the United States Navy where she served as a medical physicist/radiation health specialist to channel her passion for helping others into therapy and rites of passage work), Lisa specializes in guiding others through personal growth, chronic illness, transitions, evolutions and major life changes. You’ll often find her in Nature, where she feels most grounded and connected to the Earth and all other beings (humans, plants, and animals). Read More
Collaborators & Trainers
Hāweatea Holly Bryson, MA, is an Indigenous Psychotherapist, Family and Nature Quest Guide, Kaimirimiri (Māori healing practitioner) and Trainer. Deeply committed to the resurgence of rites of passage as a vital cultural and therapeutic practice for our times. Her work spans Aotearoa (NZ), Hawai'i Australia, China and the USA where she has supported diverse communities in this over the past 17 years. Her psychotherapy practice is rooted in somatic and relational therapies, traditional Māori healing, and nature-connected life-ways.
Her highlight is the absolute honour of walking alongside individuals, couples and families through the evolving stages of life and relationship over spans of time. She trains facilitators and therapists in experiential modalities; including nature-based therapy, ecopsychology, decolonising psychotherapy, and Indigenous approaches to listening and guiding. She belongs to the mountains Aoraki and Mauna ō Wakea.
www.natureknows.co
For over 30 years, Melody Mischke has been seeking to define her purpose and give it life in the world. She is a certified Transformational Coach, Heart-Based Meditation Instructor, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Yoga Teacher, Writer, and Intuitive. She began studying meditation in India at the age of 18, has degrees in both Environmental Science and Contemporary Spirituality, and is a primary contributor to Banyan Botanicals’ written educational content. She founded both her private practice (Live In Resonance) and a partnership with her brother (Luminous Planet) to help guide others into a more intimate relationship with their innermost essence and purpose. She is a passionate skier, wilderness adventurer, and singer with a profound devotion to her family, to wild places, and to elevating consciousness on the planet. She lives in Evergreen, Colorado with her husband and son.
As a co-facilitator of Courting Your Medicine, Melody's highly-skilled capacity to hold sacred space, her grounded wisdom, and her razor-sharp aptitude for seeing your deepest gifts will help guide your journey.
Angela Merrill has spent over 20 years in the field of psychology, specializing in alternative and integrative healing modalities, including nature-based work. She believes that personal and collective well-being are deeply interwoven with our relationship to the natural world. Angela holds a master’s degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Wilderness Therapy and is the founder of Expanding Roots Integrative Wellness in Boulder, CO. She has served as a group facilitator, yoga teacher, and clinical supervisor. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Naropa University’s Graduate School of Psychology and continues to teach at the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute.
Tasha Eichenseher, MA, LPCC, combines mindfulness and meditation, nature-based practices, yoga, ritual, and psychotherapy to facilitate mind-body-soul experiences that nurture nervous system regulation, attunement, and peace of mind. She works to help adult and teenage clients move through anxiety, depression, anger, pain, and grief to unearth their authentic selves and navigate transition from a place of alignment and empowerment. Read More
Administration
Lisa Kennemur, MA. In addition to being a Rites of Passage Guide and Quest Facilitator, Lisa is also the Program Director for the Institute and assists clients in enrolling in the various training programs facilitated by the Institute. Read More
Danielle Militzer, MBA, is a seasoned professional in operations management, project management, and business strategy. Currently, Danielle serves in the Online Business Manager Role with the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute. With a track record of delivering exceptional results, she founded Milli Operations LLC in 2021, specializing in fractional operations support. In roles such as Director of Operations, Danielle streamlined operations for diverse industries, including marketing agencies, therapy clinics, online course creators, and healthcare facilities.
Before Milli Operations, she served in the Executive Director role at several senior care facilities. Danielle's early career involved roles at healthcare organizations, ensuring project coordination and smooth operations. Holding certifications like Certified Director of Operations and Nursing Home Administrator License, Personal Care Home Administrator License, and Assisted Living Administrator License she earned recognition for her compassionate approach in healthcare across the healthcare continuum.
With a Master's in Healthcare Business Administration and a Bachelor's from the University of Pittsburgh, Danielle is equipped for operational success. Driven by a commitment to excellence and innovation, she looks forward to contributing to the growth of businesses and organizations.
Paula Walker, LDO, is a Program Manager Assistant at the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute. Paula is a native of Jasper, Georgia, and grew up playing outdoors in the North Georgia mountains. She was an early adopter of grounding practices and prefers to be barefoot whenever possible, as she loves the connection to earth and nature. Paula is also a mom, wife, sister, and lover of animals. She bred and showed French Bulldogs for more than 10 years. She produced many many grand champion dogs, but her primary goal was always to produce healthy, friendly, and lovable dogs for families who love the breed as much as she does.
She worked in the optical industry for over 30 years as a licensed optician. She comes to the Institute by way of her sister, Lisa, the program manager. Paula and Lisa have always shared a tight bond and they love to work with each other!
Lindsey Thomas joined the team in April of 2024 and serves as Project Manager at the Institute. She brings clarity, structure, and grounded support to the behind-the-scenes operations at SNTI. After over a decade in the corporate world, she shifted gears in 2021 following the birth of her son, choosing to channel her strengths into helping mission-driven small businesses thrive, and allowing her to have a better work-life balance.
With a passion for organization, Lindsey manages projects from strategy to execution—leading the marketing team, organizing project timelines, and ensuring every piece moves forward with intention.
At her core, Lindsey is passionate about creating strong internal foundations so that others can focus on connection, care, and meaningful work. Lindsey lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two small children, but loves when the opportunity arises to visit with the SNTI team in person outside of Boulder.
Angela Wood is a passionate digital marketing partner who supports purpose-driven brands and has worked with The Somatic Nature Therapy Institute to amplify their message and impact. With a strategic yet heart-centered approach, Angela helps clients grow their online presence through social media management, email marketing, and content creation that aligns deeply with their mission. She thrives on turning ideas into clear, engaging digital content that builds connection and drives results.
Angela brings nearly a decade of experience as a Virtual Assistant and marketing specialist, collaborating closely with clients to create systems and strategies that work. Outside of work, she is a proud mom to three school-aged kids and is happily married to her high school sweetheart. She embraces the beauty of Michigan living whether she’s out on the lake, curled up with a good book, or making unforgettable memories with her family and friends.
Take the Next Step
For general inquiries or more information about trainings, supervision, and mentorship, email us or call 720-507-6247.
(Please note, if you are a Medicaid client, we unfortunately can’t see you for psychotherapy services.)