Welcome! I’m Desirèe Norwood and I’m a psychotherapist serving Colorado. I hold a few important credentials such as my Masters in Clinical Counseling Psychology from The University of Denver and I’m a Certified Trauma Professional (CTP).

My path to becoming a therapist was anything but linear. Before this, I was a National Account Manager for a Fortune 500 corporation and then went on to own a small business coaching women and entrepreneurs. Only after burnout and reckoning with “what I want to do with my life,” I decided to go to graduate school to get my Masters and do the work that felt more aligned with my values.

I work with high-achievers because I know high-achievers because I am a high-achiever. I know what it’s like to have extremely high standards and the relentless desire to control small details. I also know what it’s like to be pathologized and although in therapy we explore the past and childhood, I don’t think perfectionism is entirely bad. It likely got you to a place of success. In therapy, we want to find better ways to manage perfectionism, not rid of it entirely. 

There is no one to be.

Through my own therapy, I was able to learn about myself outside of my accomplishments. To be honest, it was the first time I felt like I was “allowed” to get to know myself. I put others before myself and rarely thought about what I wanted. I followed what I thought I “should” do for such a long time that I didn’t even realize that I never got to know who I was.

I was nervous to start therapy because I didn’t like the idea of opening up to someone and I didn’t want to feel bad. I also worried I would try to make my therapist happy and then it would feel like another performance to put on.

Turns out, it was easier than I thought it would be to talk to an objective third party. I liked that I had a scheduled hour in my calendar once a week to discuss what was going on at work and in my relationships. It was the start to real self-care and prioritizing myself.

Get to know me a little bit better

A few fun things: 

• I’m a creative person and I love to write, paint, and try new recipes. I consider myself an artist. 

• My husband and I eloped in Vail. My dress was thrifted for $20 and we brought our cat to spend the long weekend with us to celebrate (obviously).

• I moved to Arizona for a year after meeting with a shaman in Boulder, who - from her basement in the woods - suggested it would be good for me (this was right before I resigned from my corporate job).

• I run (unfortunately, on purpose).