Eric Rydzewski, LCMHC
eric@elementstraverse.com
Eric has over 12 years of experience in therapeutic residential, outpatient, wilderness, and hospital settings. He has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia, an MS in Counseling from Prescott College, and is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) in Utah and Colorado (LPC). Eric grew up and spent his young adulthood in Pennsylvania and was raised with an appreciation for the outdoors, animals, and compassionate living. As a young adult, Eric struggled himself and eventually found his own wilderness therapy experience on the Appalachian Trail. Since then, he has worked in and around the social work and therapy industry accumulating seemingly countless days in the field helping young people heal by getting “down in the dirt” alongside them. He takes an attachment systems and EFT approach to connecting with his clients and their families.
Eric specializes in working with young adults (ages 18-35) and adolescents who struggle with substance use, neurodivergent issues, gender and sexuality exploration, media/technology use struggles, OCD, anxiety, depression, and phase of life problems. He is trained in ASD identification using the ADOS-II and allows this to inform his work, yet does not use this tool in his wilderness practice. He is an EMDR certified practitioner and uses an integrative approach to support his clients through their trauma(s). For technology and substance use issues, Eric believes in the power of replacement behaviors and a positive support network to help individuals coping with addiction in all its forms. He was trained at the Beck Institute in CBT and weaves DBT skills into his practice under the belief that the provided language helps his clients identify that which causes pain. He believes that if we can process our issues and put words to them, then we can begin to heal. As Mr. Fred Rogers once said, “If it’s mentionable, it’s manageable!”
In his free time Eric enjoys paddling on rivers, rock climbing, reading good fiction, skiing, playing musical instruments, watching movies, working on one of his many house projects, and hiking outside with his dogs. He is EMDR licensed, Beck Institute CBT certified, a certified Wilderness First Responder (WFR), an AMGA Single Pitch Climbing Instructor (SPI), and has previously been certified as a Swiftwater Rescue Technician and Technical Ropes Rescue Technician. He lives with his family in Grand Junction, Colorado.