Jess Arneson, LPCC
SOMATIC | EMDR | TRANSPERSONAL | NATURE-BASED
Hi there! I’m Jess (she/her), and my work is rooted in the power of relationship and earth-based wisdom. I believe that you are inherently whole, carrying your own truth—and that the therapeutic relationship can foster the courage and care it takes to get closer to that truth.
I am guided by relationship with the wilderness, both within us and around us. Through listening, embodied awareness, and relational support, we will attune to what emerges through connection to one another, to self, and to the living world around us.
I recently completed my Master’s in the Wilderness Therapy program at Naropa University and my internship at the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute. I draw from Gestalt, Existential, Somatic, and Nature-based modalities to be with what is here and now—and to tend to what is calling for attention. My approach welcomes raw expression, play, and present-moment exploration.
For those who are interested, I integrate ancestral skills such as hunting, storytelling, hide tanning, and fire-making—not just as tools, but as living metaphors for intuition and remembering who we are. I believe deeply in the power of ceremony and ritual. If desired, I offer this for clients who are curious or who already hold an established practice in their lives.
If you are drawn to a therapeutic journey that embraces your authenticity, the natural world, or the wisdom of ancestral ways, I invite you to reach out.
“Your soul is both of you and of the world. The world cannot be full until you become fully yourself.” ~ Bill Plotkin
THERAPY AS A RETURN TO WILDNESS
Maybe you’ve tried traditional talk therapy and something was missing. Maybe you’ve always found more relief in the woods than on a couch. Maybe you’re moving through grief, anxiety, trauma, or a major life transition—and the usual approaches feel too small for what you’re carrying.
If any of that resonates, you’re in the right place.
Working with Jess means therapy doesn’t have to look like sitting in a fluorescent-lit office, parsing the same story week after week. It can happen outside, with your feet on the ground and the wind in the trees. It can include your body—not just your words. It can make room for the parts of you that feel too raw, too wild, or too spiritual to bring into a conventional therapeutic space.
Whether you’re seeking somatic therapy for trauma, EMDR for anxiety or PTSD, or nature-based counseling to reconnect with yourself after a period of loss or disconnection, Jess offers a therapeutic relationship that meets the fullness of who you are. She works with adults navigating grief and loss, depression, life transitions, and the kind of existential restlessness that comes from knowing there’s something deeper available—but not quite finding the door.
For those drawn to ancestral wisdom and earth-based practices, Jess also integrates traditional skills—fire-making, hide tanning, hunting, storytelling—as living metaphors for intuition and self-remembering. These aren’t add-ons. They are portals back to a part of yourself that modern life tends to bury. Ceremony, ritual, and rites of passage are also available for those who feel called.
Sessions are available remotely, or outside in nature in the Boulder, CO area. Wherever you are on your path, there is a way in.
A little more about me.
Beyond the therapy room, I am deeply inspired by the possibility of bringing people back into relationship with the wild—not as a weekend escape, but as a genuine homecoming. I lead and co-facilitate wilderness retreats where participants have the opportunity to learn ancient sacred practices: hide tanning, fire tending, storytelling, and other skills that have held human communities together across generations.
These gatherings are close to my heart because they offer something therapy alone cannot always reach—the felt sense of belonging to something older than your own story. When hands are busy scraping hide or coaxing a spark from a bow drill, something in the nervous system softens. Old grief surfaces. Laughter comes easily. People remember skills their bodies somehow already know.
I believe these practices are not relics. They are medicine. And bringing them into the wilderness—away from screens, schedules, and the noise of modern life—creates the conditions for a particular kind of healing: slow, rooted, and real.
Training Background
- MA, Wilderness Therapy (Clinical Mental Health Counseling) — Naropa University
- EMDR Level I Training — Trauma Therapist Institute
- Collaborations with the Natural World — Somatic Nature Therapy Institute
- Therapeutic Nature-Based Interventions — Somatic Nature Therapy Institute
- Uncovering Genius — Somatic Nature Therapy Institute
- Honoring Change: Rites of Passage and Ceremony — Somatic Nature Therapy Institute
- Somatic Soul-Based Trauma Training — Somatic Nature Therapy Institute
- Connecting with Ground: Nature-Based Interventions for Trauma, Attachment, and Nervous System Regulation — Somatic Nature Therapy Institute
- Hide Club & Mentorship with Mara Cur (Fern + Roe)
- Wilderness First Responder