Kris began his career in the helping relationships field in 2001 after graduating from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR. In working with adolescent males, Kris found a passion that has helped guide his education, interests and spiritual growth. After moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2002, Kris took an adventurous excursion from the mental health field and worked for the environment by helping remediate, clean and rebuild some of Colorado’s contaminated soils. This was an opportunity for Kris to get back to his roots in the construction field while further developing the life long skills of hard work, leadership, and teamwork.
Quickly following the completion of his project, Kris jumped back in the mental health field as an addictions counselor at the Addiction Recovery Center in Boulder. This environment provided an atmosphere for learning that a classroom could not; a first hand look at the impact and destruction of addiction as well as the long road of recovery.
For the past 6 years, Kris has worked at many levels for a local transitional living facility with client ranging in age from 18-26, most often with dual diagnosis. There he worked in the milieu, supervised on the weekends and ultimately helped create a community-based program to support young men during their transition into the “real world”.
Kris graduated from Naropa University with a degree in Transpersonal Counseling in the spring of 2012. He completed a year long internship at the Boulder Vet Center providing one-on-one and group counseling to combat veterans with an emphasis on addressing issuing of PTSD, trauma, depression, anger management, life balance and substance abuse/dependence. Along with his master degree, Kris is a Certified Addictions Counselor-II, and is currently working towards a CAC III, as well as becoming credentialed as a License Addiction Counselor (LAC).
He has a passion for life and for helping others find their passion within themselves. Everyone has a story and everyone has a spark for life. Sometimes they need a little help, encouragement and guidance to help them understand what their true story is, and ignite their spark.
Kris has the support of his amazing wife, beautiful little girl and trusted old dog. He developed a passion for fishing growing up in Oregon, which has since flourished on the Colorado Rivers and streams. He has hiked many miles in the Rocky Mountains, peaked five of Colorado’s 14’ers and continues to spend time in the mountains when he can. He practices meditation, enjoys a good book, good food, and his community of family and friends.
