Roots
I was born and raised in New York City in the 1960s. My father was one of the original Mad Men. My mother a writer and artist. My parents were generous and progressive and taught me to be kind and always aware of how my words and actions affected others. I recall vividly the heat and fear that accompanied the Civil Rights and anti-war movements. I learned political sensibility from Dylan; the power of love from the Beatles; tragedy and suffering from JFK; and pure joy from Shake-A Pudd’n. Movement as a means for reflection and contemplation has always intrigued me. I did my first down dog in the late 60s with my Mom in a Town Hall meeting room. When I was four, my family began spending summers in the Berkshires. And while New York City had hardened me, the forest helped soften me. Springtime thawing, summer wildflowers, autumn winds on the bare trees and the blinding winter sun provided immense solace in a world that seemed torn by strife, and still does.
Trunk
I attended Colgate University, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History and then got a job organizing traveling visual arts and historical exhibitions for a statewide non-profit agency in New York. In the mid-1980’s, I embarked on a new path and obtained my Masters from the Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Branches
Constance Anne Klein, LCSW
Curriculum Vitae
Early in my career, I concentrated on children and adolescent treatment in inpatient and outpatient settings, developing expertise in trauma-focused healing. My master’s thesis titled Observing Transitional Phenomena with Latency-Age Children and Therapists During Termination was awarded the Eleanor Clark Thesis Prize for excellence in clinical research. Over the next 15 years, I specialized in treating mental health conditions and addictive behaviors with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and “next generation” behavioral therapies—Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT). In 1997 I joined the faculty of the University of Colorado, School of Medicine, where I was on a team which created the ENCOMPASS program, a research-to-real-world treatment intervention for teens addicted to substances and suffering from mental health conditions. Teaching CBT and Motivational Interviewing to other clinicians both in the US and abroad was a highlight of my career. I am a certified trainer and member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). The manual I wrote on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing for Adolescents with Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders has been followed in research protocols funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It is now used to treat substance-dependent teens throughout the country. In 2013, I retired from academic research and teaching to concentrate on my private practice.
Leaves
After many years of seeing clients in sterile, corporate high rises, in 2005, I found my nest and opened my practice on Old South Pearl. With an office sandwiched between coffee shops, I’m frequently found in one of them with a chai and a big salad reading up on esoteric philosophy. In 2010, I completed a year-long contemplative Hatha yoga teacher training, with a focus on meditation and yoga philosophy. I find inspiration in many different spiritual traditions, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism and have studied spiritually-integrated psychotherapy at Iliff School of Theology, Denver. I feel grateful to live in a beautiful city in this majestic area of the country and enjoy any outside activity, especially hiking, skiing, and backpacking. Music, art, reading, yoga and a regular meditation practice invigorate and center me.
