Nov 17, 2020
Emily Isaacs is the founder of Emily Isaacs Counseling in Colorado. Emily's journey into the wilderness therapy field began in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco where she grew up. Emily shares stories including going from being a city kid to a field guide at Open Sky to contributing to diversity in the outdoors as the Executive Director of Women's Wilderness. Emily shares her work with women veterans and the Climbing Grief Project. Emily has a thriving outpatient wilderness therapy practice.
Bio from the
Emily Isaacs Counseling Website: I have over fifteen years of
clinical experience, in settings
ranging from intensive wilderness therapy treatment programs, a
walk-in crisis clinic, Boulder Community Hospital, retreats
with female veterans, and private
practice.
My education includes a Masters degree from Naropa University in
Transpersonal Psychology, an approach that honors the importance of
body / mind / heart / and spirit in the therapeutic process.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in both Colorado and
Wyoming.
I have training in and draw from the following
modalities:
As an educator and outdoor professional, I have fifteen years
of experience guiding and instructing backpacking, climbing, and
boating expeditions from one to twelve weeks in length. For
ten of these years, I was working year-round in the deserts and
mountains of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, California and Oregon,
living, working, and teaching in conditions ranging from 70 degrees
and sunny to a zero degree blizzard. I absolutely love
teaching outdoors and particularly love sharing my passion for
baking back-country pizza, reading maps, and making fire from a
bow-drill set. I have worked extensively with teens and young
adults navigating complex mental health issues.
My leadership resume includes hiring and training guides for Open
Sky Wilderness Therapy, serving as a lead instructor for Outward
Bound and The National Outdoor Leadership School, and serving as
the Executive Director for Women’s Wilderness for four years. As the
Executive Director, I rescued an iconic outdoor
program when it was about to close doors, tripled the
operation budget over the course of 4 years, and led a team of up
to 7 office staff in launching transformational new
programming, including the Queer Wilderness Project,
Trailblazers: Outdoor Leadership for Black, Indigenous, and People
of Color, and Summit Sisters, an annual 3-day retreat
for over 120 participants. Additionally, I founded
“Jumping Mouse, the Gathering of the Guides,” a wilderness therapy
guide conference that ran for 9 years, and Women’s Climbing Circle,
a women’s climbing series at Movement Climbing and Fitness in
Boulder that has skyrocketed in popularity.
Additionally, I hold a Masters in Education from the University of
California at Santa Cruz and have classroom experience teaching in
middle and high schools.