Cedar Tree Healing Arts

Helping people live lives of meaning, connection & joy

Boulder, CO 80303

(303) 518-3755

Helping people live lives of meaning, connection and joy through psychotherapy and shamanic healing.

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About Kris

Hi, and welcome to my practice! My name is Kris Abrams. I practice psychotherapy and shamanic healing, and see individuals and couples in Mancos, Colorado (in between Durango and Cortez in the Four Corners region), and also work with people around the world remotely.

Psychotherapy and shamanic healing are powerful ways to help people live lives of authenticity, meaning and joy in a society that makes this challenging. Because each one of us is a beautiful and complex collection of thoughts, emotions, beliefs, histories, actions, relationships, a body, and a soulful/spiritual self, I work holistically with each person and incorporate a range of therapeutic techniques. These techniques encompass both highly researched, evidence-based practices, as well as holistic, creative, intuitive, and spiritual practices, including:

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy;

  • EMDR (a powerful protocol for healing trauma);

  • Mindfulness;

  • Somatic psychotherapy;

  • How to work with emotions skillfully, so that we feel them and find the wisdom in them, but don’t let them ruin our lives;

  • Nature-based psychotherapy/wilderness therapy/Ecopsychology/Ecotherapy

  • Helping people to see clearly the oppressive systems in which we live, and heal from the self-blame, self-criticism, self-hate, and trauma that they can cause;

  • Peacemaking and Non-Violent Communication;

  • Shamanic journeying.

My formal education includes a Master’s of Philosophy in Economic and Social History from Oxford University, where I was a Rhodes Scholar and studied the South African liberation movement; a Master’s of Science in Mental Health Counseling from Prescott College with a focus on Ecopsychology and Wilderness Therapy; and Bachelor’s degrees in Neuroscience and Philosophy of Science from Brown University. I am trained as an EMDR therapist.

As far as my shamanic training, I studied privately with my first shamanic teacher for well over ten years. Then, feeling that it was time to learn from others, I began exploring many different paths, eventually settling on working with Sandra Ingerman. Moved by her humanity, decades of experience, and the way she humbly walks her talk, I deepened my knowledge of the basics with her, and then completed her year-long Advanced Practitioner training. I am now honored to be listed on her website as a practitioner, entrusted with providing in-depth shamanic journeys for clients, including the powerful practice of soul retrieval.

How did I land in this unconventional line of work? My path has not been a linear one! As a young adult, I devoted myself to transformation at the level of society and systems. Believing in the transformative power of education and the media, I produced Democracy Now!, a national, independent news and public affairs program, from 2000-2003. Desperate for mountains, fresh air, and pace of life that felt more natural to me, I moved from New York City to Colorado. I went to work for the community radio station in Boulder, KGNU, the Global Greengrants Fund, and Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights. I also co-founded a non-profit in Denver, Let Us Rise, that supported different organizations and groups of people to envision the kind of world we want, and to come together around that vision.

All of this work was deeply meaningful to me. But somehow, it just didn’t feel like I was on the right path. For one, I kept burning out. Secondly, I was experiencing mounting frustration and alarm that our attempts to transform society often end up reproducing some of the same dynamics we oppose, such as treating each other cruelly, prioritizing being right and stoking our own egos, or falling into us vs. them, despite our commitments to peace and justice for all. So I dove into the work of personal transformation, taking trainings in peacemaking and conflict resolution, doing my own psychotherapy, finding solace and wisdom and power in the natural world, working intensively with a shamanic teacher, and eventually going back to school for nature-based psychotherapy.

I emerged from all of this finally feeling whole in myself for the first time and passionately committed to helping others find their own wholeness and true gifts. I launched my private practice in 2013, and in 2017, I moved with my wife and dogs to the small town of Mancos, CO in order to deepen this work and my relationship with the natural world. These days, I continue to see individual clients on a limited basis, while working on opportunities to bring together individual and systemic change.

Most recently, horrified by our nation’s descent into fascism, I faced my fears and launched my public writing on Substack in December of 2024.

If any of this speaks to your heart, I would be delighted to work with you! To get the ball rolling, contact me.

Public Trainings, Presentations, and Groups

Live with Joy: A nature-based therapy group for women I led for many years.

"Of Soul & Spirit: Conscious Incorporation of Spirituality & the Transpersonal into Wilderness/Adventure Therapy," a workshop co-created and co-facilitated with Katie Asmus and delivered to the Association for Experiential Education International Conference, Oct. 23, 2015 in Portland, OR, and to the International Adventure Therapy Conference, June 4, 2015 in Denver, CO. 

"Working with Internalized Oppression in the Current Political Climate": An experiential workshop delivered to the Rocky Mountain Regional Conference of the Association for Experiential Education, shortly after the election of 45. 

"How Does Nature Heal? An Experiential Introduction to Nature-Based Psychotherapy," Presented by The Women's Wilderness Institute at Summit Sisters, June 3-5, 2016.

"Towards Authenticity, Connection, Meaning and Joy: Lessons from Shamanism," Delivered January 20, 2016 at Interface Boulder. Click here to purchase an audio recording. Also delivered to the Prescott College Master's Students Colloquium, April, 2016.

Honoring Change: Ceremony, Ritual, & Rite of Passage as Tools for Transformation
A Prescott College Intensive for Adventure Therapy and Ecopsychology Master’s students, General Counseling and Education Master’s students, and alumni, therapists and educators. I was the assistant teacher for Katie Asmus, April 2-6, 2017.

"Collaborations with the Natural World: Nature-Based Interventions for working with trauma and nervous system regulation in educational and therapeutic settings." A Prescott College Intensive for Master's Students in Education and Counseling Psychology. I was the assistant teacher for Katie Asmus, April 11-14, 2016.

"The Alchemy of Change: Transforming Your Intentions into Action," a workshop delivered at the Boulder Bioneers Conference, Oct. 25, 2015. Click here for more info. Also delivered to the Prescott College Master's Students Colloquium, April, 2016. 

"Why Nature Heals," a talk delivered to the Inaugural Symposium of MeSimple on April 25, 2015.

"Helping People to Live Lives of Connection, Meaning and Joy: Lessons from Shamanism," a talk delivered to the Boulder Institute for Psychotherapy and Research on June 19, 2015.

The Women's Wilderness Institute Presents: Live a Joyful Life! An 8-week, nature-based therapy group for women. September-November 2015.

Living What Matters: a 6-week workshop designed to help you clarify your vision for your life in partnership with nature.

Experiments in Joy: Exploring your spiritual relationship with Nature. A 4-week experiential training designed to help you deepen your spiritual relationship with Nature. 

Contact & E-newsletter Sign-Up:

You may contact Kris at (970) 403-5018, or kris@cedartreehealing.org, or by filling out the form to the left, below. To sign-up for the e-newsletter, fill out the form to the right, below.