About me
Hello, my name is Barbara and welcome.
If you are experiencing tension or trouble in your relationship or relationships, or feeling rejection, abandonment, lack of empathy, disappointment, hopelessness, shame, breach of trust and many other feelings, you are not alone. These are common human experiences that traumatize all of us and become symptom that are manifested by depression, anxiety, addictions, health problems and all other symptoms and illnesses.
Over the years we accumulate various life experiences, acquire patterns and behaviors, and then develop certain ways of looking at ourselves and others. Most issues that people bring to me are an exploration and healing of relationship trauma or disruption of connection with a significant other or people in their lives. I like to think of myself as a therapist who disassembles people’s narratives, experiences, and emotions and then help them put them back together in a way that feels better.
You have taken a huge step towards finding tools to deal with the issues that you are struggling with. I know that beginning therapy can sometimes be hard, but it is often an act of courage, hope, self-care, and self-determination. If this is your first-time seeking therapy, or even if it is not, you might be nervous, or you might have some apprehension. I just want to assure you that this is normal.
MY PHILOSOPHY:
I believe that relationships are crucially important to all of us and without close, secure connections with others, we as human beings cannot thrive in our everyday lives. When we experience disruptions of such connections, we feel emotional pain and suffering. If you are feeling this way, I want to help you and your significant other heal, grow, and change your life and your relationship.
I believe that therapy should be a safe, comfortable place where you, should feel heard, validated, and accepted as you are so that you can be honest about what is troubling you. It should be a place where you feel understood and feel comfortable to work out unwanted feelings and behaviors. I also believe that therapy should address physical, spiritual, psychological, and relational aspects. Because of this, my treatment plan for each client is unique and is designed specifically for each individual needs.
I am committed to providing services that help reduce the stressful symptoms that led to you seeking out therapy, whether these challenges are recent challenges or longstanding challenges, whether you are looking to improve your relationships with your significant other or others, whether you are searching for strategies to improve your mood and manage depression, or increase your self-worth, or increase positive coping skills for anxiety, or identify triggers and replacement behaviors, or even strategies to cope with difficult emotions or understanding and processing traumatic experiences.
My goal is not to get you to who you were before the issues started, but to integrate the lessons learned and expand your ability to experience deeper a deeper connection with yourself, partners and other.
WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY ABOUT ME:
I am a great listener, very insightful, genuine, welcoming, honest, compassionate, empathetic, and approachable. I have a nurturing and gentle approach in helping you set your goals and achieve them. I have spent a lot of time learning about issues that divide couples and strain relationships. I use practical tools that are helpful in resolving conflict, improving communication, and finding solutions. I partner with you to create trusting relationships through honest interactions. Most of all we have fun! There are difficult parts of therapy, but we laugh too.
WHY I LOVE DOING RELATIONSHIP WORK:
I understand personally and professionally the importance of connecting with others. I put a lot of dedication into learning the mysterious nature of relationships and what makes them work and have learned along the way the importance of empowering others to make changes in their lives that will help them experience that deeper connection – a connection that is key to physical and mental health and feeling alive. I consider it a blessing and honor to walk with you through these trying times. I am very relatable, and clients feel understood when they work with me and so can talk freely.
EXPERIENCE:
I have been working with couples and individuals struggling with relationships for over 10 years in various settings. This has ranged from pre-marital counseling, to family sessions, working with individuals struggling to start or keep relationships, people adjusting to parenthood, people coping with infidelity, same-sex couples, depression, anxiety, self-esteem issues, life transitions, trauma, or substance abuse.
My experience has taught me that we all experience things in our lives that may impact our lives in different ways and bring us to a crossroad where we get stagnant because we are not sure which direction to take. With a little help and assistance from people who are genuine, empathetic, and accepting we begin to experience a deeper connection with ourselves, our partners, and others. We all have inner strengths that help us through life, and I believe that many people can grow and build on those strengths through encouragement and empowerment. My goal is to work collaboratively with you to identify strengths, patterns, coping skills, discover practical solutions and tools to help you make positive changes in your life.
MY COUNSELING STYLE:
My counseling style is very client-centered, interactive, empathetic, warm, strength based and holistic. I focus on building a safe, non-judgmental environment utilizing a multi-dimensional approach that not only explores your thoughts, your emotions, and behaviors as they relate to different situations in your life, but also explores solutions with the goal of enhancing your ability to achieve stability and growth. The direction we take is determined by your individual needs but there are different theoretical approaches that I draw from. I incorporate evidence-based techniques such as emotionally Focused Therapy, Strength-based therapy, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Problem Solving therapy, Cognitive Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy as well as Narrative Therapy.
EDUCATION:
University of Denver: Master’s degree in social work.
Certificates: Family engagement, Family sensitivity, positive behavior supports, strengthening resiliency, system values, trauma informed practice, cultural competency, grief and loss counseling.
I have over 20 years of experience helping adults, families, youth and couples dealing with anxiety, relationship issues, intimacy-related issues, parenting issues, family issues, grief, loss, addiction, adjustment issues, abuse, anger-management, trauma, career difficulties, as well as self-esteem issues.
LICENSE INFORMATION:
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Colorado: CSW# 09926714
I look forward to working with you.
Specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationships
- Family conflicts
- Trauma, Abuse
- Depression
Addictions , LGBT , Grief , Intimacy-related issues , Parenting issues , Anger management , Self esteem , Career difficulties , Coping with life changes , Abandonment , Adoption and foster care , Attachment issues , Read more...
Clinical approaches:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Attachment-Based Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Gottman Method, Mindfulness Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Trauma-Focused Therapy
Years of Experience: 5
Services offered
Messaging
Phone
Video
Licensing
CO LCSW CSW.09926714
Reviews
These quotes represent just a few of the many positive reviews that we have received for Barbara Mutagamba. We don't pay anyone to provide their review and they are all made voluntarily. Some people's experience receiving therapy with Regain might be different.
Barbara is great, listens, comes up with good ideas and is a pleasure to work with.
Barbara has been amazing and very helpful for my wife and me
During what has and continues to be a very-trying time for me and my wife, Barbara has been a calming, professional, caring voice, while still being stern and insightful enough to challenge us to look inside ourselves for the answers to many of our problems.
Barbara is a great listener with excellent recall and insight. She is able to quickly analyze situations and identify rough areas without judgment. She's able to ask 'tough questions' gently. Every 45-minute session completely changed my perspective and left me feeling uplifted and confident. She's been a real gift in my life.
Really enjoy working with Barbara.
Barbara was so helpful in providing us with tools to create healthier patterns. Easy to talk to and kind.
I always look forward to talking with Barbara.
Barbara is great, good listener then makes thoughtful recommendations.
Barbara is absolutely amazing. She is incredibly understanding and really great at adjusting to my needs.
She is extremely caring and respectful and easy to talk to