Rowan Michael Collins

My Story

The path that led me to work as a Mental Health Counselor has everything to do with my own experience of struggle, healing, and recovery. Suffering related to chronic pain, confusion related to purpose and identity, and exposure to trauma had run my life off course, and therapy was the tool I used to get back on track. That experience left me a firm believer in the power of the therapeutic relationship, and in what can be achieved through honest, nonjudgmental, and compassionate relating.

In my adult life, I’ve worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer, taken part in movements for social and ecological change, and managed a worker-owned cooperative bookstore and radical community space. In 2022, after seeing the gaps in care that exist across the system, I shifted my focus to mental health, hoping to offer others the same kind of support that carried me through my hardest moments. Since finishing a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, it has been an honor to draw on my own experiences to help support people in making change and moving towards the lives they want.

As a counselor, I am queer-affirming and sex-positive, and I work with people of all identities and relationship structures, including cisgender folks, queer and trans people, and those in monogamous, non-monogamous, or polyamorous relationships. My work is rooted in a neurodiversity lens, which means I honor different ways of thinking, feeling, and experiencing the world.

My approach is grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Rather than trying to challenge or eliminate difficult thoughts and emotions, ACT emphasizes shifting your relationship with them in order to engage openly and willingly with whatever arises in the present moment. In sessions, we focus on noticing your experience, clarifying what truly matters to you, and taking action that aligns with your values, even when it’s hard.

Outside the therapy room, I spend my time learning about the flora and fauna of Appalachia, connecting with family and friends, planning day trips to local rivers, lakes, and mountaintops, watching movies, reading books, bingeing the latest sci-fi TV show, and climbing walls at the local bouldering gym. 

There is no perfect time to start therapy, but you don’t have to have it all figured out to begin. If you think we might be a good fit, I encourage you to reach out for a free consultation. Together, we can start the work of slowing down, opening up, and engaging with what’s important.

I specialize in:

• Anxiety & Depression

• Trauma

• Panic

• Cannabis Use

• Grief & Loss

• Values Clarification

• Meaning & Purpose