September 23, 2025 • 12 mins
Have you ever wished therapy could incorporate your passions instead of asking you to compartmentalize parts of yourself? That's exactly what Vonie' Stillson and the team at Equilibrium Counseling are pioneering with their "geek therapy" approach.
The Good Neighbor Podcast sits down with Vonie' to explore how Equilibrium Counseling evolved from a solo practice into a thriving group practice over the past decade. What makes their approach revolutionary is their commitment to incorporating clients' passions and interests directly into the therapeutic process. "If you're passionate about something, why would we not include that into part of what you're working on to navigate and figure out your world?" Vonie' explains. This philosophy extends to their explicitly affirming stance for LGBTQI+ individuals and what they lovingly call "neuro spicy" or neurodivergent clients.
Vonie's personal journey adds depth to their practice. After experiencing serious car accidents as a teenager that left them with chronic pain, Vonie' discovered healing through aquatic therapy. This experience now informs their unique therapeutic approach combining dance movement therapy with aquatic rehabilitation. They've found that physical injuries almost always have emotional components - a connection often overlooked in traditional therapy settings. Beyond clinical work, Equilibrium reaches their target demographic of "geeky people" by presenting at Comic Cons about the intersection of fandom and mental health, and Vonie' even leads a multigenerational Steampunk social group.
The most powerful takeaway? "We want people to show up as your whole self," Vonie' emphasizes. Whether you're seeking help from Equilibrium or working with another therapist, bringing your complete self - with all your passions, interests, and identities - creates space for more meaningful healing. Ready to experience therapy that embraces all aspects of who you are? Connect with Equilibrium Counseling through their website or by calling 970-599-1314 to begin your journey toward wholeness.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Nick George.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of some uniquecounseling that some might refer
to as geek therapy?
Well, one such counselingcompany might be closer than you
think.
Today I have the great pleasureof introducing your good
neighbor, vinay Stilson ofEquilibrium.
Counseling.
Vinay, how's it going today?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Very good, thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Good.
Tell us all about yourcounseling service and where we
get this word geek therapy from.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
So Equilibrium we've been around for about a decade
now and one of my running jokesis I accidentally started a
group practice.
Equilibrium started out as me,myself and I, and then Steph
Lamplin came in as an extern andthen stayed on with us.
And then Jennifer Nash came inas an intern and then became an
(01:04):
extern and stayed on with us.
And then Jennifer Nash came inas an intern and then became an
extern and stayed on with us,and now I have a group practice
that has three licensedproviders, two candidate
providers and currently we haveone intern working with us.
Geek therapy is where we takethe things that a person is
passionate about and we bringthat into working with people as
(01:25):
part of their healing journey.
Our stance is if you'repassionate about something, why
would we not include that intopart of what you're working on
to navigate and figure out yourworld?
Um, and one of the a couple ofother big things about
equilibrium is we are explicitlylgbtqi plus affirming we are
also neurodivergent, or, as welike to say, neuro spicy
(01:46):
affirming.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Nice.
Tell me how you got into thisbusiness in the first place.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
So I was eight when I decided I wanted to be a
therapist.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
What did that look like?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I was like I want to help people and one of my
running jokes is I wasdefinitely a care bear kid and I
think everybody needed to knowthat somebody in the world cares
about them, and so that wasvery much what my path was.
The only thing that shiftedfrom the time I started college
is my specialization shiftedfrom being general counseling,
(02:21):
and then I was going to doublemajor in dance education and
psychology too.
I found out dance movementtherapy is a field, and I
actually came out to Naropa todo my undergraduate degree in
2002, to do my undergraduatedegree in dance movement therapy
, and went on to get my master'sat Antioch in dance movement
therapy and counselingpsychology.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Wow, I'm very familiar with Naropa.
It's a pretty cool school.
So what are some myths ormisconceptions in your industry?
That are probably someartificial anxieties that people
have before they call fortherapy that you can dispel in
this podcast.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
One of the things that I think is interesting is I
don't know if everyone realizeswhat those terms I used just a
few minutes ago licensedprovider, extern and intern are.
So to become a therapist youhave to get a master's degree in
counseling or psychology youknow, mental health therapy, one
of those types of degrees andthat's a two to three year
(03:25):
master's degree and that usuallyincludes a two semester, one
year internship.
So when we have an intern, thisis someone who's in the final
stages of their schooling withtheir master's degree and is
finishing up that learningprocess.
And then what we call an externis someone who has completed
their master's degree, hasreceived that, has received that
(03:47):
finished school and is workingtowards getting their licensure.
So you have to be in the fieldfor approximately two years full
time to get enough hours tobecome licensed as a therapist.
And so people think, oh, oh, Ihave to see a licensed therapist
to have anyone who knows whatthey're doing.
By the time someone gets theirlicense, they've been doing
(04:10):
therapy for three years.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Wow, that's like trying to make an avocado tree
produce avocados.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Yes, and so I know a lot of people are nervous when
they hear like, oh, this is apre licensed person or this is
an intern.
They're like, well, does thisperson know what's going when we
start as that process with anintern or extern?
That's where some people arealready.
Yes, we're in the field, fullylicensed, because they have that
master's degree.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Wow.
So we know that marketing isthe heart of every business.
Who are your target clients andhow are you marketing to them
now?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Geeky people, neurodivergent people I think
that's probably like our coredemographic and part of our
marketing is a little different.
It does overlap with some ofthe stuff that we do like
individually and collectivelyfor fun is.
One of the things that I'vedone is I've been involved with
Fort Collins Comic Con since thefirst year that it began and we
(05:11):
present and talk about theintersectionality of fandom and
mental health and what does thatlook like in presenting panels
not just with Fort Collins ComicCon but various different pop
culture conventions around thestate.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Have you thought about trying to do that in a
podcasting format?
I have not.
What do you do?
For fun, I go to Comic Con.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
What do you do for fun?
I go to Comic-Con.
That's a big part of it.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
That's not work.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
No, I assume it's the piece of it's, the overlap of,
like this is work and what is itto bring these pieces together?
I also run a.
I don't know if everyone peopleknow what Steampunk is, so it's
the way I describe Steampunk.
Is it's Victorian sciencefiction or the history that
never was?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You mean like a steam engine.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yes.
And so we talk about yes, wetalk about.
Without science, technology,engineering, arts and
mathematics, you have nosteampunk.
And so I I run a NorthernColorado based social steampunk
group called Airship Iron Opal.
So there's a lot of cosplaying,creating, making, and it's a
(06:21):
whole family affair.
I actually have there's threegenerations within our family
that actively participate inthis group.
Our oldest member is actually aretired alcohol and drug
counselor that I used to workwith in Mississippi, who lives
in another state, who comes hereto do Comic-Cons with us, and
she's 79 this year, and ouryoungest member is, I think, six
months old now, so wholelifespan that joins in as part
(06:44):
of this group.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I typically stopped asking this question about 40
episodes ago, but it seemsappropriate now.
Is there a hardship or a lifechallenge that you overcame,
that made you stronger andbrought you to be the person
that you are today?
Because you don't seemtraumatized.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I appreciate that.
One of the examples that I talkabout that is part of the
pieces and parts that we bringinto is we also do a lot of work
with people who have chronicillness and physical health
concerns.
I was 17 when I got t-boned bya car and I sprained everything
from the base of my skull to mytailbone.
Two years later, at 19, I lostcontrol of my vehicle, I hit a
(07:28):
light pole and I walked away,and so I've had chronic pain
since I was 17.
And aquatic physical therapy isa lot of what brought me back to
being able to function, andthat's actually one of the other
pieces that I do is I'm anaquatic rehabilitation
specialist and I combine aquaticphysical therapy with being a
(07:51):
dance movement therapist and Iput people not all of my
sessions, but I do have where Iput people in the water and we
do therapy like a therapysession in the water, working
with people, because the wateris a lot of what helped me
brought back to functioning.
I said I was.
I was a junior in high schoolwhen my when my first car
(08:11):
accident happened, and so mywhole world changed.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yeah, no, every time I twisted an ankle I threw my
back out, and the only thingthat stopped that Tom and Jerry
cartoon of playing a game ofwhack-a-mole with injuries was
to stop making excuses about theinjury and jump in the water.
The water helped me heal, nomatter what was damaged.
(08:35):
I was able to do that and findbalance again, so didn't see
that coming.
But I strongly agree with withwhat you just said.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And it's a huge piece and a part of how that became
part of, like, my integrationwith what I do personally as a
therapist because what I do as atherapist is a little different
than what each of our otherproviders do as a therapist,
because we all bring in our ownstories and our own passions and
the types of therapy that we do.
But I was finding that a lot ofpeople were having physical
(09:05):
injuries and the connectionbetween the emotional impact and
the physical injuries didn'thave a space to be talked about
and I've never met someone thathad an injury that there wasn't
an emotional component to.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, I only hear that kind of stuff from
hypnotists.
Do you do that too?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
No, I do not do that.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah Well, that's deep work for someone.
That's not not digging that,you know that's done.
Digging into hypnosis for youto tackle those types of
attachments is a it's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
But it all shows up.
It all shows up in our bodiesand the other piece that I've
seen that comes up when we talkabout neurodiversity and you
know different ways people'sbrains work and communication
styles work is I know that's ahuge piece that comes up is when
you look at the worlddifferently, your experience in
your body is differently, andtrying to help someone else
(09:55):
understand your perspective ofhow you experience the world,
how your experience in your bodyis, can be challenging, and
that's such a huge, importantpiece that we encourage all of
the people who work with us toshow up as their whole self.
A lot of people we've talked tofeel like, oh, I can't talk
about that I've had this injury,or that I have ADHD, that I'm
(10:18):
part of a polyamorousrelationship, or that I'm a
giant geek who cosplays and ispart of the Star Trek group, and
people feel like they have toleave those parts of themselves
outside of the room.
We can let our whole selves bepresent.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Healing is very different and makes our
experiences more completebecause we're not separating and
cutting ourselves apart beforewe even walk in the room.
Yes, deep, I agree.
That's amazing, bonet.
What can our listeners takeaway from this interview, this
podcast with you aboutequilibrium counseling?
What's the big thing that youwant them to remember?
About what you do and different?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
I hope they remember that we want people to show up
as your whole self.
Whether you're coming to see uspersonally as equilibrium, or
if you already have a therapistthat you love that you're
working with, please be yourwhole self when you're working
on your journey, because you'reworth your energy and your time.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
For now, what are all of the different ways that
people can find equilibriumcounseling in social media, on
the website and the oldfashioned way by phone number.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Our website is equilibrium counseling
servicescom and on there youactually get to see our bio for
all of our amazing providersthat we have and some other fun
stuff.
There's some different localartists who show their artwork
in our Loveland office and youcan see some of their
information there as well.
On social media, we're onFacebook as Equilibrium
(11:52):
Counseling Services and phonenumber is 970-599-1314.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Well, Venae, I really appreciate you being on our
show and we wish you andEquilibrium Counseling the very
best moving forward.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast To nominate yourfavorite local businesses to be
featured on the show.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpfortcollinscom.
That's gnpfortcollinscom.
Or call 970-438-0202.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Nick George.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of some uniquecounseling that some might refer
to as geek therapy?
Well, one such counselingcompany might be closer than you
think.
Today I have the great pleasureof introducing your good
neighbor, vinay Stilson ofEquilibrium.
Counseling.
Vinay, how's it going today?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Very good, thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Good.
Tell us all about yourcounseling service and where we
get this word geek therapy from.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
So Equilibrium we've been around for about a decade
now and one of my running jokesis I accidentally started a
group practice.
Equilibrium started out as me,myself and I, and then Steph
Lamplin came in as an extern andthen stayed on with us.
And then Jennifer Nash came inas an intern and then became an
(01:04):
extern and stayed on with us.
And then Jennifer Nash came inas an intern and then became an
extern and stayed on with us,and now I have a group practice
that has three licensedproviders, two candidate
providers and currently we haveone intern working with us.
Geek therapy is where we takethe things that a person is
passionate about and we bringthat into working with people as
(01:25):
part of their healing journey.
Our stance is if you'repassionate about something, why
would we not include that intopart of what you're working on
to navigate and figure out yourworld?
Um, and one of the a couple ofother big things about
equilibrium is we are explicitlylgbtqi plus affirming we are
also neurodivergent, or, as welike to say, neuro spicy
(01:46):
affirming.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Nice.
Tell me how you got into thisbusiness in the first place.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
So I was eight when I decided I wanted to be a
therapist.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
What did that look like?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I was like I want to help people and one of my
running jokes is I wasdefinitely a care bear kid and I
think everybody needed to knowthat somebody in the world cares
about them, and so that wasvery much what my path was.
The only thing that shiftedfrom the time I started college
is my specialization shiftedfrom being general counseling,
(02:21):
and then I was going to doublemajor in dance education and
psychology too.
I found out dance movementtherapy is a field, and I
actually came out to Naropa todo my undergraduate degree in
2002, to do my undergraduatedegree in dance movement therapy
, and went on to get my master'sat Antioch in dance movement
therapy and counselingpsychology.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Wow, I'm very familiar with Naropa.
It's a pretty cool school.
So what are some myths ormisconceptions in your industry?
That are probably someartificial anxieties that people
have before they call fortherapy that you can dispel in
this podcast.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
One of the things that I think is interesting is I
don't know if everyone realizeswhat those terms I used just a
few minutes ago licensedprovider, extern and intern are.
So to become a therapist youhave to get a master's degree in
counseling or psychology youknow, mental health therapy, one
of those types of degrees andthat's a two to three year
(03:25):
master's degree and that usuallyincludes a two semester, one
year internship.
So when we have an intern, thisis someone who's in the final
stages of their schooling withtheir master's degree and is
finishing up that learningprocess.
And then what we call an externis someone who has completed
their master's degree, hasreceived that, has received that
(03:47):
finished school and is workingtowards getting their licensure.
So you have to be in the fieldfor approximately two years full
time to get enough hours tobecome licensed as a therapist.
And so people think, oh, oh, Ihave to see a licensed therapist
to have anyone who knows whatthey're doing.
By the time someone gets theirlicense, they've been doing
(04:10):
therapy for three years.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Wow, that's like trying to make an avocado tree
produce avocados.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Yes, and so I know a lot of people are nervous when
they hear like, oh, this is apre licensed person or this is
an intern.
They're like, well, does thisperson know what's going when we
start as that process with anintern or extern?
That's where some people arealready.
Yes, we're in the field, fullylicensed, because they have that
master's degree.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Wow.
So we know that marketing isthe heart of every business.
Who are your target clients andhow are you marketing to them
now?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Geeky people, neurodivergent people I think
that's probably like our coredemographic and part of our
marketing is a little different.
It does overlap with some ofthe stuff that we do like
individually and collectivelyfor fun is.
One of the things that I'vedone is I've been involved with
Fort Collins Comic Con since thefirst year that it began and we
(05:11):
present and talk about theintersectionality of fandom and
mental health and what does thatlook like in presenting panels
not just with Fort Collins ComicCon but various different pop
culture conventions around thestate.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Have you thought about trying to do that in a
podcasting format?
I have not.
What do you do?
For fun, I go to Comic Con.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
What do you do for fun?
I go to Comic-Con.
That's a big part of it.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
That's not work.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
No, I assume it's the piece of it's, the overlap of,
like this is work and what is itto bring these pieces together?
I also run a.
I don't know if everyone peopleknow what Steampunk is, so it's
the way I describe Steampunk.
Is it's Victorian sciencefiction or the history that
never was?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You mean like a steam engine.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yes.
And so we talk about yes, wetalk about.
Without science, technology,engineering, arts and
mathematics, you have nosteampunk.
And so I I run a NorthernColorado based social steampunk
group called Airship Iron Opal.
So there's a lot of cosplaying,creating, making, and it's a
(06:21):
whole family affair.
I actually have there's threegenerations within our family
that actively participate inthis group.
Our oldest member is actually aretired alcohol and drug
counselor that I used to workwith in Mississippi, who lives
in another state, who comes hereto do Comic-Cons with us, and
she's 79 this year, and ouryoungest member is, I think, six
months old now, so wholelifespan that joins in as part
(06:44):
of this group.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I typically stopped asking this question about 40
episodes ago, but it seemsappropriate now.
Is there a hardship or a lifechallenge that you overcame,
that made you stronger andbrought you to be the person
that you are today?
Because you don't seemtraumatized.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I appreciate that.
One of the examples that I talkabout that is part of the
pieces and parts that we bringinto is we also do a lot of work
with people who have chronicillness and physical health
concerns.
I was 17 when I got t-boned bya car and I sprained everything
from the base of my skull to mytailbone.
Two years later, at 19, I lostcontrol of my vehicle, I hit a
(07:28):
light pole and I walked away,and so I've had chronic pain
since I was 17.
And aquatic physical therapy isa lot of what brought me back to
being able to function, andthat's actually one of the other
pieces that I do is I'm anaquatic rehabilitation
specialist and I combine aquaticphysical therapy with being a
(07:51):
dance movement therapist and Iput people not all of my
sessions, but I do have where Iput people in the water and we
do therapy like a therapysession in the water, working
with people, because the wateris a lot of what helped me
brought back to functioning.
I said I was.
I was a junior in high schoolwhen my when my first car
(08:11):
accident happened, and so mywhole world changed.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yeah, no, every time I twisted an ankle I threw my
back out, and the only thingthat stopped that Tom and Jerry
cartoon of playing a game ofwhack-a-mole with injuries was
to stop making excuses about theinjury and jump in the water.
The water helped me heal, nomatter what was damaged.
(08:35):
I was able to do that and findbalance again, so didn't see
that coming.
But I strongly agree with withwhat you just said.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And it's a huge piece and a part of how that became
part of, like, my integrationwith what I do personally as a
therapist because what I do as atherapist is a little different
than what each of our otherproviders do as a therapist,
because we all bring in our ownstories and our own passions and
the types of therapy that we do.
But I was finding that a lot ofpeople were having physical
(09:05):
injuries and the connectionbetween the emotional impact and
the physical injuries didn'thave a space to be talked about
and I've never met someone thathad an injury that there wasn't
an emotional component to.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, I only hear that kind of stuff from
hypnotists.
Do you do that too?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
No, I do not do that.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah Well, that's deep work for someone.
That's not not digging that,you know that's done.
Digging into hypnosis for youto tackle those types of
attachments is a it's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
But it all shows up.
It all shows up in our bodiesand the other piece that I've
seen that comes up when we talkabout neurodiversity and you
know different ways people'sbrains work and communication
styles work is I know that's ahuge piece that comes up is when
you look at the worlddifferently, your experience in
your body is differently, andtrying to help someone else
(09:55):
understand your perspective ofhow you experience the world,
how your experience in your bodyis, can be challenging, and
that's such a huge, importantpiece that we encourage all of
the people who work with us toshow up as their whole self.
A lot of people we've talked tofeel like, oh, I can't talk
about that I've had this injury,or that I have ADHD, that I'm
(10:18):
part of a polyamorousrelationship, or that I'm a
giant geek who cosplays and ispart of the Star Trek group, and
people feel like they have toleave those parts of themselves
outside of the room.
We can let our whole selves bepresent.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Healing is very different and makes our
experiences more completebecause we're not separating and
cutting ourselves apart beforewe even walk in the room.
Yes, deep, I agree.
That's amazing, bonet.
What can our listeners takeaway from this interview, this
podcast with you aboutequilibrium counseling?
What's the big thing that youwant them to remember?
About what you do and different?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
I hope they remember that we want people to show up
as your whole self.
Whether you're coming to see uspersonally as equilibrium, or
if you already have a therapistthat you love that you're
working with, please be yourwhole self when you're working
on your journey, because you'reworth your energy and your time.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
For now, what are all of the different ways that
people can find equilibriumcounseling in social media, on
the website and the oldfashioned way by phone number.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Our website is equilibrium counseling
servicescom and on there youactually get to see our bio for
all of our amazing providersthat we have and some other fun
stuff.
There's some different localartists who show their artwork
in our Loveland office and youcan see some of their
information there as well.
On social media, we're onFacebook as Equilibrium
(11:52):
Counseling Services and phonenumber is 970-599-1314.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Well, Venae, I really appreciate you being on our
show and we wish you andEquilibrium Counseling the very
best moving forward.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast To nominate yourfavorite local businesses to be
featured on the show.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpfortcollinscom.
That's gnpfortcollinscom.
Or call 970-438-0202.
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