• About Us
• About Sharona Stone
• Professional Training
• Continuing Education and Training
• Annual Conferences
• Professional Memberships
• License
• Insurance Plans Accepted
• Areas of Expertise
• Credentials

About Us

Dr. Sharona Stone’s office is located in the Denver Tech Center in an office complex called Creekside, appropriately named for the creek just behind her office. On a warm pleasant day when the windows and sliding glass doors are open you can hear the sounds of water flowing in the creek. Through the abundance of windows there is a panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains. The office reflects Sharona’s personality, warm and inviting, creating a comfortable space for exploring sometimes difficult issues. You will find yourself parking directly in front of the door to the office and entering through a private entrance into her suite. Many clients are pleasantly surprised on their first visit to the office by the welcoming, sectional couch and soothing decor set in a livingroom-like environment. Dr. Sharona has created an emotionally safe place to assess your progress on The Journey of Life. She approaches her work with clients as Opportunities for Growth whether this is through Counseling, Hypnotherapy, or Coaching. Sharona’s Philosophy of Life is reflected in her professional training and experience. She believes in learning as a lifelong process. She encourages clients to access various consultants along the Path of Life to enhance and expand one’s Life Satisfaction. Dr. Sharona’s clinical expertise and curiosity about people, and encourages clients to also become curious about themselves, to welcome appropriate challenges, allowing them to stretch and grow.

About Sharona Stone

Sharona Stone has over 20 years of experience working with adults, couples, children and adolescents, and families. She has worked with corporate clients as a therapist, employee assistance counselor and consultant; and as a Personal and Executive Coach. Her personal and professional life exemplify the secrets of living and raising a successful family. She has been married for almost 25 years to her husband, Joe, who has spent over 20 years in the corporate world and is now in the process of changing careers. He is enrolled in a Masters in Counseling Program and plans to join the practice in the future. Presently, Joe schedules client appointments and manages the administrative aspects of the practice. While attending Graduate School, Sharona started a family, and gave birth to two children, a son and a daughter. Her children are now young adults pursuing professional training. She has warm, loving, and mutually supportive relationships with her husband and children. Sharona speaks of her children with an air of delight as she enjoys sharing new discoveries as well as exploring opportunities to learn from each other.

Professional Training

Masters in Education (MEd) - Tufts University, Medford, MA
Child & Family Development

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) - University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work, Denver, CO

Post-Graduate Certificate in Marital & Family Therapy - University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work, Family Therapy Training Center, Denver, CO

Doctor of Clinical Hypnosis (DCH) - American Institute of Hypnotherapy, Irvine, CA

Neurolinguistic Programming Certified Personal & Executive Coach, Neurolinguistic Programming Institute of California; Sacramento, CA

Continuing Education and Training

Collaborative Problem-Solving Advanced Training, Ross Greene and Stuart Ablon, Boston, MA

Schema-Focused Therapy Training, Jeffrey Young, Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Center of New York, Cape Cod, MA

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy For Trauma Recovery, Hakomi Somatics Institute, Boulder, CO

Shared Parenting Support Program, Frank Leek (Sacramento, CA), Denver, CO

Annual Conferences

Milton H. Erickson Foundation of Hypnosis and Evolution of Psychotherapy

American Society of Clinical Hypnosis

Professional Memberships

NASW National Association of Clinical Social Workers

ASCH American Society of Clinical Hypnosis

International Coach Federation

License

LCSW - Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Colorado Board of Social Work Examiners
since 1989

Insurance Plans Accepted

Insurance and the appropriate co payments are accepted for counseling or psychotherapy services, and in some cases for hypnosis. The insurance plans listed below are some of the more common ones in which we are a participating provider. If the name of your insurance company is not listed below please call our office and we will be glad to check if your insurance plan will cover services. (Please note many insurance companies contract with various provider groups which have names that are different than the name of your plan). In addition, we have found many plans have provisions for you to receive services from Out-of-Network providers.

• Aetna PPO
• First Health
• Great West Healthcare or One Health Plan
• Mental Health Network
• Mountain Medical Affiliates
• Private Health Care System (PHCS)
• Sloan's Lake Managed Care
• Unicare
• United Healthcare
• Value Options

In what treatment areas does Sharona have special expertise?

Abandonment or Bonding or Reactive Attachment Disorder which may be related to various life circumstances i.e., parent and child had difficulty developing a relationship or experienced disruptions due to mismatch of parent-child temperaments; physical or emotional illness; separations; placements in foster care and/or adoption. Adjustment Disorders are life changes requiring a shift that may be difficult to make. Some examples are: changes in health, family composition, changes in employment status, financial circumstances (including major loss or increase of income) related to a specific life-phase event, or response to a threat of loss or the death of someone.

Anxiety encompasses many issues i.e., a general feeling of discomfort is often the easiest symptom to identify. Context specific anxieties can develop into Phobias where the feared situation is avoided to protect the person from experiencing overwhelming anxiety. Panic Disorders are a form of anxiety in which physiological responses are commonly identified i.e., rapid heart beat, sweating, difficulty breathing or hyperventilating, and an intense fear of imminent death. Some anxieties are expressed in recurrent thoughts which the person has difficulty getting out of their mind, and these are called Obsessions. Repetitive behaviors a person feels are imperative to be performed in a circumscribed sequence i.e., repetitive checking of locks on doors or windows; making certain electrical appliances are turned off; excessive hand washing; an intolerance for things being out of place or out of order; and ritualized behaviors i.e., skin biting, picking or pulling of skin or fingernails, and hair. All of these behaviors, or Compulsions are engaged in for the purpose of discharging overwhelming levels of anxiety. The repetitive nature of these behaviors reflects the vicious cycle of an intense build-up of anxiety which needs to be released; however, the causes of this anxiety often remain unconscious.

Depression has been categorized into two major types: unipolar depression and bipolar disorder.

Unipolar depression is characterized by physical and emotional symptoms of low energy; excessive sleep or insomnia; appetite disturbances - either an increase or decrease with weight gain or loss; loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities; lack of motivation; difficulty concentrating and making decisions; feelings of helplessness or hopelessness which may include suicidal thoughts; excessive crying or an absence of feelings; non expressive facial features and an absence of feelings.

Bipolar Disorder in adults and early onset in children may or may not include the depressive symptoms listed above and include shifts in mood to “being on top of the world,” “I can do anything,” and may be expressed in reckless behavior, excessive risk-taking and impaired judgments about potential consequences of the behavior. Impulsivity and excessive spending, starting grandiose projects are signs of mania.

Men’s and Women’s Issues - questions about Who am I? A desire to increase satisfaction in various aspects of your life, develop a stronger sense of who you are, and a desire to improve self-esteem. Lingering conflicts with parent(s) or sibling(s) which you are having a hard time letting go and perhaps are being replayed with other people in your life who had nothing to do with what happened back then. Sometimes as adults we discover some of those old, unresolved conflicts come up in relationships with a spouse, child(ren), boss, or coworkers, etc.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder includes having experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child or an adult; Parental neglect of a child’s emotional or physical needs; Being a witness to or personally experiencing a traumatic event i.e., an auto accident, domestic violence, rape, physical assault; a devastating fire, a robbery, a weather-related incident; or any other event perceived as potentially life threatening triggering intense levels of fear - “the fight or flight response.”

Children and Adolescents who have social skills deficits, difficulties with expressive language and engaging in an appropriate problem-solving process; emotional dysregulation or explosive behavior; learning disabilities and stresses of coping with school life; adjustment issues dealing with changes in the family i.e., illness, job loss, a parent returning to work; conflicts with peers; disruptive classroom behaviors; advocacy for the student with the school to increase responsiveness to needs not being addressed. Parent-child and sibling conflicts; Adjustment to divorce or formulation of a blended family. Issues of Gifted Children and Autistic Spectrum Disordered Children’s needs to develop abilities to get along in the social environment in which they live.

Couples having difficulties with communication; conflict resolution; emotional intimacy; problem-solving; decisions about whether to become parents; childrearing and parenting skills; and changes in life circumstances which are presenting problems. Premarital and Re-marital Counseling to increase awareness of strengths which can be used as resources and to anticipate some possible challenges they may face in the future given the families they grew up in and personal history of life and relationship experiences.

Divorce Recovery and Support which could be renamed Growth Through Divorce. This life changing experience is very different for each individual who is going through the process. Much depends on whether this occurs by mutual agreement or one party wants out and the other desires to stay in and wants to work on fixing the problems. Frequently a divorce involves changing residences, a division of property, and if there are children developing a plan that best meets their needs.

Child Adjustment to Parental Divorce, a resource for children in need of a neutral person to speak with regarding their feelings and issues that arise during the adjustment phase. Consultation is available for parents who are in the process of a divorce and would like assistance in planning for their children’s needs and how they can keep this focus in the forefront.

Credentials

Sharona has over 25 years of clinical experience working with adults, children, couples and families experiencing challenges in their lives.

2004 July Collaborative Problem Solving (with explosive children)
Dr. Ross Greene and Dr. Stuart Ablon, Boston, MA

2002 February - July Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for Trauma Recovery
Hakomi Somatics Institute, Boulder, CO

1999 DCH, Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy
American Institute of Hypnotherapy, Irvine, CA

1989 Postgraduate Certificate in Marital & Family Therapy
Family Therapy Training Center, University of Denver, Denver, CO

1985 MSW, Masters of Clinical Social Work
University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, Denver, CO

1977 MEd, Masters in Education (Child Development)
Eliot-Pearson Child Study Department, Tufts University, Medford, MA