About Me
Palliative Care Psychologist in Denver Colorado
When Finding the Right Therapy for Living with Neurological Illness Has Been Hard
Finding the right psychological support when you are living with a neurological illness can be unexpectedly difficult.
You may have searched for a therapist but struggled to find someone experienced in the medical terrain you are navigating. You may feel worn down from - or wary of - explaining your symptoms, treatments, decisions, and uncertainties, especially when they are already having such an isolating and unsettling impact on your life.
At times, you may feel unsure whether what you are feeling is “normal” for these circumstances.
The uncertainty.
The subtle losses.
The strain in how you see yourself.
The shifting roles within your family.
The tension between staying strong and admitting how hard this is.
Much of this unfolds quietly. It is not always visible to others.
And it can leave you feeling alone inside of experiences that are, in truth, deeply human.
It is possible to find psychological care that holds your emotional experience alongside the medical realities you are living, rather than apart from them.
I invite you to reflect on what living with neurological illness has changed in your life.
How it may have shifted the stories you hold about yourself, your relationships, and the future you once imagined.
As these experiences are explored with care and honesty, meaningful change begins to unfold.
As loss and change are held and honored, their burden becomes more bearable.
Choices that once felt hidden begin to grow clearer.
Slowly, what remains possible begins to take shape.
Not the life that once was.
But the life that is still here.
It becomes possible to reclaim something core — the parts of you that illness cannot take away.
Neurological illness changes many things.
But it does not erase the deeper self living within those changes.
About Me
I am a palliative care psychologist dedicated to supporting the emotional and relational realities of living with neurological illness.
For nearly two decades, my work has focused on the ways serious illness reshapes daily life — how it touches identity, relationships, decisions, and the emotional experiences that are often invisible and unspoken.
Supporting people in rediscovering this steadiness within themselves is the heart of my work. I value warmth, compassion, as well as practical strategies for deep and sustainable adaptation and growth through illness.
Being trusted to accompany individuals and families through these chapters of life continually deepens me as a clinician and as a person.
I bring my full presence and attention to your unique experience of the neurological illness you are living with, without losing sight of who you are as person outside of illness.
Professional Background and Training
Education
I earned my Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in 2008 and Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology in 2005 from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, California.
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Psychology at Regis University in Denver, Colorado in 2001.
Formal Clinical Training
I completed my predoctoral internship in geropsychology and neuropsychological assessment at the Institute on Aging in San Francisco.
Following internship, I completed my postdoctoral fellowship in Health Psychology at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, where I specialized in palliative care psychology, neuropsychology, psycho-oncology, advanced heart and lung disease, and organ transplant.
I fell in love with palliative care during my fellowship, and upon completion of my postdoctoral fellowship year, I pursued an additional year of advanced postdoctoral fellowship at California Pacific Medical Center focused solely on palliative care psychology and neuropsychological assessment.
Academic and Clinical Leadership
Most recently, I served as the first palliative care psychologist at the University of Colorado, where I was an Assistant Professor providing outpatient palliative and neuropalliative psychological care.
During my time at the University of Colorado, I also served as the system wide Lead Navigator for Medical Aid in Dying, working to develop and implement system wide protocols, as well as education and support for medical providers.
Previously, I served as the attending palliative care psychologist on the inpatient palliative care team at Highland Hospital, a public safety net hospital in Oakland, CA.
Through a year long mentoring program with the University of California San Francisco and California Health Care Foundation, I co-founded and co-directed the first outpatient palliative care clinic in the Alameda Health System in Oakland, CA.
I have also served as an advisor to the American Psychological Association Work Group for End of Life Guidelines, and have held leadership roles in the implementation of the Schwartz Rounds for Compassionate Healthcare, supporting clinicians in reflecting on the emotional dimensions of healthcare.
Alongside these roles, I have maintained a private practice focused on psychotherapy for individuals and families living with serious illness since 2010, and frequently serve as a community consultant, educator, and resource for palliative care psychology.
Advanced Training
I believe in the importance of personal therapy for healing and healthcare professionals, and I am committed to my own healing work. I also value ongoing professional growth through consultation with colleagues and mentors. I consider my patients and families my biggest teachers, and create a culture of ongoing and open conversation on how our work together is going.
My work is also informed by ongoing advanced training in approaches that support emotional healing, relational connection, and psychological care in the context of serious illness:
Experiential and Relational Psychotherapy
Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)
Attachment and relationship-focused therapy
Emotion-focused and experiential psychotherapy
Trauma Focused Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Trauma-focused psychotherapy and trauma-informed care in medical systems
Psychological Care in Serious Illness
Dignity Therapy and dignity informed care
Contemplative end of life communication and care
Communication in advanced illness
Best practices in neuropalliative care
Advanced care planning and end-of-life decision making
Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD)
Pain management
Neurobehavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms
Publications
Medical Aid in Dying: An Overview for Neurologists
Christina Vaughan, MD, MHS & Nicole Sucre, PsyD
Practical Neurology, March 2025
Professional Associations
I am a member of:
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
International Neuropalliative Care Society
AEDP Institute
Colorado Psychological Association
Begin a Conversation
If something in you senses it may be time for more support, I invite you to reach out.
Click the button below to directly schedule a time that works for you.