Psychologist in Greenwood Village, Colorado

“13 Reasons Why ” The Netflix original that, for better or worse, has everyone talking. Talking about suicide, abuse, bullying, and what is appropriate for a teen audience. Spoiler alert, the TV series is about a teenage girl who commits suicide and pre-records 13 different cassette tapes, each speaking about a different one of her peers and how their actions contributed to her decision to commit suicide. The show depicts graphic rape scenes as well as acts of violence and adult language. The show obviously caused some commotion, and rightfully so, parents were concerned to have their children watch it As a mental health professional, I was torn as to the appropriateness of this particular TV show. I agree that there needs to be more of a conversation about suicide, but in what ways do we want to expose vulnerable young adults in order to start the conversation. I hadn’t thought too much about watching the series until several of my own teen clients began to speak about it. It ...

Do you have concerns that either yourself or someone you love may be suffering from an eating disorder? The National Eating Disorder Association recognizes the following symptoms as warning sings. Dramatic weight loss; preoccupation with weight, food, calories, and dieting; refusal to eat certain foods; making frequent comments about feeling “fat”; denying feeling hungry or has concern with eating in public; excessive or rigid exercise regimen; and intense fear of weight gain. There are also physical symptoms of an eating disorder which may include: loss of menstrual period, stomach cramps, dizziness, fainting, feeling cold often, sleep problems, dental issues, dry skin and impaired immune functioning. You may also notice that someone has difficulty concentrating and thinking clearly. Additionally, you may observe inflexible thinking, meaning the individual can only see things in a black and white manner and not be able to see alternative perspectives. For example, thinking...

So much of what creates difficulties in our lives stems from anxiety. Anxiety about not being good enough. Anxiety about failing. Anxiety about not being liked. These anxieties can cause big problems in our lives. In my world as a psychologist I get to see these anxieties go away and for people so they feel calm, content, in control and unafraid. How you ask? The most effective way I see anxiety dissipate for people is by using a therapeutic method called EMDR (Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing). It is touted to be an evidence based effective therapy by the World Health Organization, The American Psychiatric Association, Department of Veterans Affairsand the Department of Defense. It is used for many kinds of anxiety, but was originally used to treat trauma- an intense form of anxiety after an event in which you feel your life or the life of a loved one is in danger. People feel relieved to know that there is something that will help, but they ask, “how does it ...

Expert Forensic Services for Juveniles and Adults As a forensic psychologist Dr. Cleveland is an expert in juvenile and adult forensic evaluation Dr. Jane Cleveland  is a licensed psychologist in private practice, specializing in forensic psychology. She has unparalleled training and experience in domestic, civil and criminal cases; trained by The University of Massachsetts Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, she was a fellow of Dr. Thomas Grisso and others with internationally recognized forensic competence in mental health. As such she is an expert in the evaluation of juveniles and children, which in addition to her expertise in adult forensic assessment, makes her skills vast and adaptable. Dr. Cleveland has performed forensic evaluations at the federal and state level, in Colorado, New Mexico and Massachusetts. Attorneys in the Denver Metro Area have touted her as having training, ethics, and professionalism that are second to none in Colorado. Forensic...

Mindfulness has become a very popular topic in the past several years. We all hear it is good for us and something we should learn to practice. But what exactly is mindfulness? According to Mindful - healthy mind, healthy life, “Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” As human’s we far too often get carried away by our thoughts, loose connection to our bodies and can become concerned with something that has happened in the past or worried about something that is happening in the future. We lose connection with the present moment and we are not mindful of our surroundings. If we can stay engaged in the present moment and tune into what is going on around us in the here and now while being fully in our own bodies, we can decrease those worries about the past and future. Which in turn can be an effective tool to help us decrease our feelings of...

A lack of success towards a goal can build character and resilience. Many of the people who are what we consider successful have failed time and time again. Thomas Edison was asked after trying to make a light bulb over 9000 times if he felt like a failure and he said, “Why would I feel like a failure and why would I ever give up? I now know over 9000 ways an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.” There are countless other examples of people who did not let a set back stop them from their becoming…Meryl Streep, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, J.K. Rowling…the list goes on and on. There are times when I know that there is a resounding undeniable truth because it comes out in situation after situation and when discussed people get that light bulb look in their eye and shake their heads in agreement. Here is what it is…. THE GOAL TO ATTAIN PERFECTIONISM IS THE QUICKEST PATH TO SHAME, because there is no such thing as perfect, you will neve...