Experiential Group Supervision & Therapist Consultation in Colorado
Illuminate clinicians KJ and Rylee participating in an experiential learning group with their mailed materials kits. Our groups are designed to move beyond discussion alone—giving therapists opportunities to learn clinical concepts, experience activities themselves, reflect together, and consider how learning may translate into their work with clients.
Therapists spend a lot of time learning how to help other people experience something differently.
We learn theories. We study interventions. We talk through cases. We read books and attend trainings.
But sometimes the most meaningful learning happens when we stop talking about an intervention and actually experience it ourselves.
At Illuminate Play Therapy & Counseling, our Experiential Group Supervision & Therapist Consultation was created to give therapists a different kind of professional space—a place to learn, bring challenging cases, explore interventions, reflect on who they are in the therapy room, and connect with other clinicians.
Our framework is simple:
LEARN • EXPERIENCE • REFLECT • APPLY
What Is Experiential Group Supervision & Therapist Consultation?
This is a small, virtual professional group facilitated by Natalie Hanks, MA, LPC-S, LAC, RPT, founder and clinical supervisor of Illuminate Play Therapy & Counseling.
Each month explores a different clinical theme through a combination of:
Clinical teaching → Case consultation → Experiential practice → Reflection → Clinical application
Instead of spending the entire group simply talking about cases, we create opportunities to engage with therapeutic concepts.
That might mean working with art materials, exploring metaphor, experiencing a sandtray-inspired activity, practicing a regulation intervention, examining therapeutic use of self, or slowing down enough to notice what is happening within the therapist—not only the client.
The goal is to take something from the group and bring it back into the therapy room.
Experience the Intervention, Not Just the Theory
As therapists, we regularly ask clients to do vulnerable things.
We ask them to notice their bodies.
Create something without knowing exactly what it will mean.
Choose an image or miniature.
Explore a metaphor.
Experiment with movement.
Try something unfamiliar.
Sit with discomfort.
A therapist can understand an intervention intellectually without knowing what it actually feels like to participate in it.
Experiential learning gives us the opportunity to become curious about that experience.
What felt uncomfortable?
What surprised you?
Where did you want more direction?
Where did you want less?
What helped you feel safe enough to participate?
What assumptions did you make before beginning?
What might your own experience teach you about introducing something similar to a client?
This is not about turning supervision or consultation into personal therapy. It is about becoming more thoughtful about the experiences we invite our clients into.
What Happens During the Group?
Each 90-minute meeting has enough structure to keep us grounded while leaving room for the needs of the clinicians in the group.
We begin with a clinical concept or question related to the month's theme.
From there, we may move into case consultation and explore how the concept is appearing in actual clinical work.
Then comes the experiential component.
Participants may be invited to engage with materials from the month's kit, participate in a reflective exercise, explore metaphor, practice an intervention, or experience a therapeutic concept from a different perspective.
Finally, we reflect on what happened and ask:
How does this translate back into clinical practice?
The goal isn't simply to have an interesting experience.
It is to leave with greater awareness, clinical curiosity, and something you can actually use.
A Monthly Experiential Kit, Delivered to You
Because our group meets virtually, we wanted to preserve some of the tactile, creative experience that can be lost online.
Registered participants receive a monthly experiential kit mailed directly to them.
Depending on the month's theme, kits may include expressive-art materials, reflection tools, metaphor prompts, sandtray-inspired materials, experiential exercises, or other resources connected to the month's clinical focus.
You don't need to figure out what materials to bring or make a shopping list before group.
Open your package. Bring it to group. We'll explore it together.
What Do We Explore?
Our themes change throughout the year so clinicians can continue developing across different areas of practice.
Topics may include:
The Therapist in the Room
Therapeutic use of self, countertransference, boundaries, nervous-system awareness, identity, and presence.
Sandtray & Metaphor
Exploring symbols, metaphor, miniatures, and ways of communicating beyond direct conversation.
Trauma & the Nervous System
Looking beyond the story to consider regulation, activation, protection, and the body's role in therapy.
Attachment
Exploring connection, safety, rupture, repair, and relational patterns.
Neurodivergence
Considering regulation, executive functioning, sensory experiences, and neurodivergent-affirming clinical care.
Grief
Making space for loss through creative, symbolic, and experiential approaches.
Play Therapy
Exploring developmentally responsive communication and the therapeutic power of play.
Therapist Burnout & Sustainability
Recognizing what we carry as clinicians and exploring more sustainable ways of practicing.
Boundaries & Use of Self
Considering the balance between authentic therapeutic presence and carrying what belongs to the client.
Case Conceptualization
Stepping back from individual symptoms and asking what may be happening underneath.
Themes may also evolve based on the clinicians participating and the clinical questions showing up in the group.
Bring the Cases That Have You Thinking
Sometimes you don't need another training.
You need a room of thoughtful clinicians willing to say:
Let's look at this together.
Participants may bring appropriately de-identified clinical situations for consultation.
Maybe you're stuck.
Maybe you've tried several approaches.
Maybe something about a case is activating something in you.
Maybe you know something isn't quite fitting, but you can't identify what.
Maybe you simply want another clinical perspective.
Consultation isn't about someone else handing you the perfect answer.
It's an opportunity to slow down, widen the lens, and expand the way you're thinking about the work.
A Small Group on Purpose
This isn't designed to become a webinar with dozens of faces on a screen.
Illuminate's Experiential Group is intentionally kept small, generally around 6–8 clinicians, so there is room for actual conversation, consultation, reflection, and participation.
You don't have to perform.
You don't have to bring the perfect case.
You don't have to pretend you know everything.
Clinical growth requires places where therapists are allowed to remain curious, too.
Who Is This Group For?
Experiential Group Supervision & Therapist Consultation is designed for behavioral health clinicians who want continued clinical growth, experiential learning, and professional connection.
You do not have to work at Illuminate to participate.
The group may include independently licensed clinicians, provisionally licensed clinicians, Illuminate clinicians, and clinicians who have a separate formal supervision relationship with Natalie.
Because professional roles matter, consultation and clinical supervision are not automatically the same thing.
Participation in this group alone does not establish a formal clinical supervision relationship or automatically mean group hours qualify toward professional licensure.
Clinicians seeking formal supervision toward Colorado LPC licensure will establish a separate supervision relationship and agreement.
Looking for Formal LPCC Clinical Supervision?
Natalie provides clinical supervision for Colorado LPCCs working toward independent LPC licensure.
Her approach to supervision includes more than reviewing cases and tracking hours. Supervision may explore case conceptualization, ethics, documentation, risk, professional boundaries, therapeutic use of self, clinical identity, scope of competence, nervous-system awareness, and continued professional development.
Formal supervision is an evaluative professional relationship with its own agreement, documentation, individual supervision, group supervision when applicable, and ongoing competency evaluation.
For clinicians who have established a formal supervision relationship with Natalie, eligible group supervision may be documented when it meets applicable Colorado requirements and the terms of the supervision agreement.
Learn more about LPCC Clinical Supervision at Illuminate.
Meet Your Facilitator
Natalie Hanks, MA, LPC-S, LAC, RPT is the founder of Illuminate Play Therapy & Counseling and a Colorado-qualified LPC clinical supervisor.
Her clinical work and teaching interests include trauma, play therapy, sandtray, expressive arts, somatic and nervous-system-informed work, neurodivergence, attachment, foster and adoptive families, dissociation, addiction, and faith-integrated counseling when requested by clients.
Natalie believes clinicians deserve spaces where they can continue learning, asking questions, experimenting, reflecting, and developing their own therapeutic identities.
LPC-S is used as professional shorthand to identify Natalie's qualification to provide LPC clinical supervision in Colorado. Colorado does not issue a separate LPC-S license; Natalie's state-issued professional counselor license remains LPC.
When Do We Meet?
Second Friday of every month
5:30–7:00 PM Mountain Time
Virtual
Because the group meets online, therapists can participate without traveling to Illuminate's Western Colorado offices.
What Does It Cost?
$85 per month
Monthly registration includes:
90-minute virtual group + clinical teaching + case consultation + experiential learning + monthly materials kit + shipping
Because physical materials are prepared and mailed before each group, registration deadlines may apply to allow enough time for your kit to arrive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to work for Illuminate?
No. The group is open to clinicians outside Illuminate and is designed to create connection and learning beyond our own practice.
Is this therapy for therapists?
No. Although experiential activities may involve reflection and self-awareness, this is a professional supervision, consultation, and learning environment—not personal psychotherapy.
Participants are encouraged to maintain appropriate professional boundaries around what they choose to disclose.
Can I bring a client case?
Yes. Clinical situations may be brought for consultation, but client confidentiality must be protected. Cases should be appropriately de-identified and discussed in accordance with applicable ethical, legal, and privacy requirements.
Do I have to participate in every experiential activity?
Experiential learning works best when participants engage, but professional autonomy and boundaries still matter. Participants are encouraged to notice their own limits and participate appropriately rather than feeling pressured into personal disclosure.
Does participating count toward my Colorado LPC licensure supervision hours?
Not automatically.
Participation as a community clinician in a consultation group does not establish a formal supervision relationship.
For Colorado LPCCs who have separately established a formal clinical supervision relationship with Natalie, qualifying group supervision may be documented when it meets applicable requirements and the terms of the supervision agreement.
Can I attend just one month?
Yes. Clinicians may register for individual months based on availability and interest unless a particular offering is identified as part of a series.
Why do I need to register in advance?
Because there's a box coming to your house!
Experiential materials are prepared and mailed before the group, so we need enough time to get your kit to you.
Come Curious.
You don't need to arrive with the perfect question.
You don't need to know exactly what you need.
And you don't need to prove that you're a good therapist.
Bring your curiosity.
Bring the case that's been sitting in the back of your mind.
Bring the part of you that still loves learning.
We'll explore it together.
Come curious. Leave with something you can bring back into the therapy room.
JOIN THE NEXT EXPERIENTIAL GROUP
Continue Growing With Illuminate
Looking for a Graduate Internship?
Illuminate offers paid graduate counseling internships designed to provide meaningful clinical experience, supervision, and opportunities to begin developing your identity as a therapist.
Explore Paid Counseling Internships at Illuminate
Looking for LPCC Clinical Supervision?
Work with Natalie through a formal supervision relationship as you develop clinical competency and work toward independent LPC licensure in Colorado.
Explore LPCC Clinical Supervision
Interested in Practicing With Illuminate?
Learn more about our independent contractor model and opportunities for clinicians who want the support and infrastructure of a group practice while maintaining autonomy in their clinical work.
Learn About Joining Illuminate