Therapeutic Climbing

Therapeutic climbing creates a perfect microcosm for growth—where the physical reality of being 40 feet above the ground intersects with our deepest emotional reactions. The experience naturally evokes primal responses: awareness of your heartbeat, conscious breathing, the delicate balance between trust in equipment and trust in self, and the mindful choice to move forward despite uncertainty.

Unlike traditional coaching, the climbing environment provides immediate, honest feedback that can't be intellectualized away. Each session creates a natural laboratory where you'll practice responding rather than reacting, finding calm amidst discomfort, and discovering capabilities that remain hidden until challenged. For individuals with diverse learning styles and processing needs, climbing provides particularly valuable sensory integration and regulation opportunities, offering a structured way to practice emotional regulation and executive function skills in a controlled environment.

As an AMGA Certified Climbing Instructor with a Master's in Holistic Counseling, I create carefully structured climbing experiences that build skills while providing natural opportunities for insight and achievement. Whether you're an experienced climber or have never touched a climbing wall, these sessions adapt to your current abilities while creating appropriate challenges.

Where vertical challenges reveal inner strengths

Therapeutic Climbing: The CAIRN Approach

Connection & Natural Confidence Building:

Success on the wall translates directly to confidence in daily life and strengthens connections with others. Each route completed builds self-efficacy and genuine achievement while creating opportunities for meaningful interaction with your coach and peers who understand the climbing journey

Autonomy & Tangible Problem-Solving:

Solving a climbing route becomes a puzzle requiring creative thinking, planning, and decision-making that generalizes directly to daily challenges. Climbers develop independence by choosing their own routes, setting personal goals, and taking ownership of their progress—building the autonomy that transfers to life decisions.

Integration: Mind-Body Unity:

Climbing naturally connects mental, emotional, and physical experience, creating awareness of how our thoughts, emotions, and physical responses interact. This integration helps climbers understands themselves as complete beings—not just thinking minds, but embodied individuals whose physical state influences mental clarity and emotional regulation.

Regulation Skills Development:

The climbing environment provides controlled exposure to challenge, creating opportunities to practice emotional regulation, stress management, and window of tolerance awareness. Climbers learn to manage fear, frustration, and excitement in real-time.

Navigation & Executive Functioning:

Each climbing session develops executive functioning skills through route planning, sequence memorization, risk assessment, and adaptive problem-solving when initial strategies don’t work.

This framework shows how climbing isn’t just a physical activity—it’s a comprehensive approach to developing core capabilities that my coaching clients need for life success.

How it Works

  • We begin with fundamental climbing skills and safety procedures. I assess your current comfort level and establish a supportive foundation for progression.

  • Each session introduces appropriate new challenges – technical skills, route difficulty, or specific mental aspects – calibrated to your development.

  • Brief moments of reflection during and after climbing help connect insights on the wall to everyday life, making learning transferable and lasting.

  • Sessions conclude by acknowledging achievements and establishing focus for continued development, both on and off the wall.

Who Benefits

Therapeutic Focus - Individuals developing foundational skills:

  • Building basic confidence and emotional regulation through physical challenge

  • Managing anxiety and perfectionism in controlled environments

  • Developing mind-body awareness and sensory integration

  • Learning problem-solving skills through route navigation

  • Building frustration tolerance and resilience in manageable doses

Development Focus - Individuals enhancing existing capabilities:

  • Advanced mental performance and focus training

  • Leadership development through peer encouragement and spotting

  • Character building through voluntary challenge and goal achievement

  • Performance enhancement in managing pressure and decision-making

  • Developing coaching and mentorship skills with other climbers

Climbing sessions integrate physical challenge with deeper reflection - processing insights on the wall and connecting climbing metaphors to life navigation through journaling and meaningful conversation.

Climbing Together

Climbing as a Family

Family therapeutic climbing sessions create unique opportunities for communication, trust-building, and collaborative problem-solving. When family members climb together, natural moments for connection and growth emerge through:

  • Supportive encouragement

  • Shared achievements

  • Natural role flexibility

  • Trust-building exercises

  • Collaborative problem-solving

These sessions adapt to each family's dynamics and goals, creating experiences that strengthen bonds while developing individual capabilities.

Small Group Climbing Development

Small group climbing sessions create natural opportunities for social skill development while building confidence through shared challenge. These guided experiences focus on both climbing progression and interpersonal growth within a supportive peer environment.

Group climbing emphasizes:

  • Social skills practice—through encouragement, communication, and trust-building

  • Executive functioning—route planning, gear organization, and systematic problem-solving

  • Emotional regulation—managing anxiety, frustration, and excitement in real-time

  • Leadership development—teaching others, providing spotting support, and collaborative problem-solving

  • Reflective processing—connecting climbing insights to daily life through group discussion and personal journaling.

Contact me to discuss current group availability or express interest in future group climbing programs focused on skill development and peer connection.

Session Length: 90 minutes Location: Indoor climbing facilities in the Denver Metro area

What to Bring: Comfortable athletic clothing

Frequency: Typically weekly or bi-weekly

Ready to experience therapeutic climbing?

Schedule a free consultation to discuss how therapeutic climbing might support your growth.