My Services

And Everything You Need To Know

How I Work

Deep Structural Change, Not Just Symptom Management

Most of my clients have already done therapy. They've learned coping skills, breathing exercises, and cognitive reframes. They've managed symptoms. But the patterns keep coming back: the same fights, the same freeze response, the same sense that something deeper is driving the wheel.

That's because the issue isn't in your conscious mind—it's held in implicit memory, in the body, in the nervous system's predictions about what's safe. You can't think your way out of trauma. You have to experience your way through it.

A woman wearing a white cowboy hat and sunglasses, riding a galloping brown horse on a dirt track in an outdoor rodeo arena.
Christie Ashbeck, Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Relational Life Therapist, AZ Whole Heart Connection founder, couples and trauma therapy in Gold Canyon, Arizona
Christie Ashbeck, RLT certified couples therapist and Masterson Method practitioner, with her horse in the Superstition Mountains
Christie Ashbeck, Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Relational Life Therapist, AZ Whole Heart Connection founder, couples and trauma therapy in Gold Canyon, Arizona

Making Sure we’re the right fit

Having the right therapist for you is important. Here’s how you can know who I work with.

    • "Deep thinkers" who want the root, not the band-aid

    • People who've stabilized and are ready for structural change.

    • Those willing to do the experiential, body-based work of memory reconsolidation

    • Couples and individuals ready to stop repeating what doesn't get resolved

    The modalities I use—RLT, AEDP, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, PIT—require longer sessions, deeper presence, and a willingness to work with the body and emotion, not just the conversation.

    If you're ready for that depth, we can work well together:

    • Those in active crisis needing immediate stabilization

    • People seeking short-term, insurance-mandated treatment

    • Those looking for "talk therapy," CBT, or pure symptom management

    • Those with an active addiction.

    • Severe mental health disorders that currently are causing clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

      (These conditions are covered by insurance, and I can provide referrals to appropriate clinicians.)

Couples therapy session space in Gold Canyon Arizona with two leather chairs for Relational Life Therapy and intensive work

COUPLES THERAPY

For Couples Who've Tried "Working On It" and Are Ready for Something Different


The Problem: You know the loop. The same fight with different words. The withdrawal that feels like rejection. The criticism that lands like contempt. You've read the books, maybe even tried therapy before, but something keeps pulling you back into the pattern.

Why This Is Different: No communication script can override a body in threat mode. When heart rates rise and partners shift into survival response, the brain organizes for protection—not collaboration. A sigh becomes contempt. Silence becomes proof of not caring.

This work addresses the relational trauma underlying the conflict, not just the conflict itself. Using Relational Life Therapy (RLT) and Transformative Couples Therapy (TCT), we work with the physiology of threat and connection, not just vocabulary.

Who This Is For:

  • Couples on the brink who are both willing to fight for the relationship

  • Couples who are unsure if they want to stay in their relationship

  • New couples who want to avoid old patterns

  • Partners stuck in cycles of criticism, withdrawal, or betrayal

  • Those who've done "talk therapy" but need experiential, body-based work

  • Couples ready to move from "walking on eggshells" to "walking side by side"

The Investment:

  • 60-minute for couples: $160

  • 90-minute for couples: $250

  • 120-minute for couples: $310

  • 4-6 hour intensives available for couples; contact me directly for scheduling.

Trauma-informed therapy office in Gold Canyon AZ overlooking Superstition Mountains for individual and couples sessions

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY

The Relationship With Self First


Complex trauma, attachment wounds, and the generational patterns that show up in your relationships. This isn't symptom management or coping skills; this is Stage 3-5 work (post-pathology, post-stabilization) for those ready to excavate the root.

Approach:

  • AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy) for attachment repair and emotional processing

  • Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for restoring agency and completing thwarted defensive responses

  • EMDR for memory reconsolidation when appropriate

  • PIT (Post-Induction Therapy) for codependency and love addiction patterns

Who This Is For:

  • Adults (18+) ready to explore family of origin dynamics and trauma history

  • Those who've stabilized (Stage 1-2) and are ready for deep structural change (Stage 3-5)

  • "Deep thinkers" who want to understand the "why," not just manage symptoms

  • Individuals preparing for healthier relationships or repairing their relationship with self

The Investment:

  • 60-minute individual: $150

  • 90-minute individual: $220

  • 4-hour intensives available; contact me directly for scheduling.

Equine-assisted therapy session in Gold Canyon AZ using the Masterson Method for trauma recovery and emotional regulation

EQUINE-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY

When the Body Needs to Learn What the Mind Already Knows


The horse becomes the feedback. Through Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (E-AP) and the Masterson Method, we work outside the traditional office setting, using the horse's nervous system to mirror and regulate your own.

Unlike traditional therapy, E-AP offers:

  • Immediate, non-verbal feedback on emotional state and boundaries

  • Opportunities to practice attunement and repair in real-time

  • Access to procedural/implicit memory through embodied experience

Future offering: Equine-Assisted Couples Therapy (pioneering this approach)

The Setting: Gold Canyon, Arizona. Sessions available in-person only.

The Investment for 90-minute session: $300

RLT Couples Bootcamp intensive workshop in Gold Canyon Arizona for relationship skills and relational trauma recovery

INTENSIVES & BOOT CAMPS

Deep Work in Condensed Time


For couples and individuals who would benefit from more concentrated work without the 'stop-start' of weekly sessions. Ideal for those working through betrayal trauma, severe emotional injury, significant power dynamics, grid-locked situations, or those who would like to do deeper trauma work that is difficult to find space for in the work week.

Couples Intensives:

  • 6-Hour Intensive: One day, $950

    • Assessment of escalation patterns and attachment dynamics

    • Real-time intervention and skill building

    • Personalized treatment plan for ongoing work

  • 2-Day Intensive: $1,900 (discounted from $2,400)

    • Deep excavation of relational trauma

    • Memory reconsolidation work for betrayal/attachment wounds

    • Restoration of trust and connection protocols

Why I have moved away from insurance companies

I am no longer contracted with any insurance companies. I can provide a Superbill for out-of-network reimbursement if your plan allows it.

Insurance companies require a mental health diagnosis and lengthy documentation to justify every session. They push providers toward short-term, surface-level work. I prefer not to pathologize my clients based on criteria defined by insurance panels.

Instead, I offer tools that help you access core emotions, deepen nervous system regulation, and renegotiate traumatic memories—at the pace that feels right for you, not at a pace dictated by an insurance company.

What insurance companies don't tell you: they reserve the right to audit your records for up to 10 years. If they decide the work wasn't "justified," they can demand reimbursement from the therapist. For a solo practitioner, these audits are devastating—and they invade the client-clinician privacy that makes therapy safe.

I prefer to build treatment plans that are flexible, unique, and effective—using interventions that insurance companies simply cannot comprehend.

A line drawing of a person with long hair holding a paintbrush, painting a smiley face on a large canvas.

Frequently Asked Questions

    • I am not contracted with insurance companies; however I can provide a Superbill for you to submit for out-of-network reimbursement. HSA (Health Savings Account) cards accepted.

  • No. I'm licensed in Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, Maine, and Minnesota. Telehealth is available for couples and individual therapy across these states. Intensives and Equine-Assisted sessions are in-person only (Gold Canyon, AZ). My Coaching & Consulting available worldwide.

  • I offer a free 15-minute consultation. I'm looking for couples and individuals who are "sick of how things are and motivated to change"—deep thinkers ready for Stage 3-5 work, not crisis stabilization.

  • When you cancel or reschedule less than 24 hrs prior to your appointment, or do not show up for your appointment, you prevent someone else from seeking treatment.  You also place a financial burden on the practice.  As a small practice, we can’t stay in business and provide care if patients repeatedly miss, reschedule at the last minute, or continuously cancel appointments.  Multiple reminders, in different modalities, are sent to you to remind you of your upcoming appointment. If you must cancel or reschedule an appointment, we require at least 24-hour notice.

    No Show/Late Cancel Appointment Fees:

    60 minute individual: $100

    60 minute couples: $140

    90 minute couples: $200

    Intensives and RLT Bootcamps require a minimum 7-day notice of cancellation in order to be given a refund.

    We are aware that emergencies happen and sometimes it is not possible to make your appointment. For emergency cancellations we do not charge a fee. If you find that you need to cancel your appointment within 24-hours and it is not due to an emergency, to avoid the late cancel fee, you are welcome to 1). switch to a phone/video session instead or 2). reschedule your appointment in the same week as the one you miss.

  • The first meeting is a free consultation to assess fit. If we proceed, we'll map your relational history, identify trauma patterns, and create a treatment plan. This is active, experiential work—not "talk therapy."

  • Both. Individual work often focuses on preparing for healthier relationships, repairing attachment wounds, or processing complex trauma that impacts connection.

Have Any Questions?

Please reach out and let’s get your journey started!