Psychotherapy, groups, and integration in Lafayette, Colorado.

A Place to Land, and to Begin Again

Venya Therapeutics brings together therapists and healers who meet you wherever you are: in grief, in transition, in the quiet ache of wanting more from your life.

We pair evidence-based clinical care with a deeper attention to the whole of who you are: many modalities under one roof, so your care stays integrative rather than scattered across offices. Whether you come for trauma work, couples therapy, integration work, or simply a steadier place to stand, you're met with warmth, skill, and the belief that healing is possible for you.

The Venya Therapeutics building on Park Lane in Lafayette, Colorado: a cedar-shingled house set back among aspens

2581 Park Lane, Unit A · Lafayette

Three ways we walk beside you

Counseling

Individual, couples, and trauma-informed therapy tailored to you.

Most journeys begin here

Group Therapy

Skilled, supportive groups where healing is witnessed and shared.

Integration

Support for making meaning of life's most profound experiences.

Explore our services

Layered mountains under a soft golden dawn

What we hold

Dignity

Every person met as whole and worthy, exactly as they arrive.

Hope

We hold belief in your healing until you can hold it yourself.

Depth

We tend to the soul as seriously as the symptom.

Integrity

Skilled, ethical, evidence-informed care you can trust.

Community

Healing is shared; no one transforms alone.

Transformation

Like the vulture, we help you metabolize what you've carried, turning what was left to rot into something that can fly.

Take the first step

I'm ready to begin.

Free · 20–30 minutes · phone or Zoom.

Prefer to write first?

Thank you for reaching out. Someone from Venya Therapeutics will be in touch soon.

Our Team

The people who walk beside you

Alex Mezyad

Owner · Therapist

MA, LPC-S

In-Person & Telehealth

Learn more about Alexandria Mezyad Schedule with Alex

Austin Gates

Therapist Intern

Graduate Intern · Naropa University

In-Person & Telehealth

Learn more about Austin Gates Schedule with Austin

Emily Cohn

Psychotherapist

MA, LPCC

In-Person & Telehealth

Learn more about Emily Cohn Schedule with Emily

Rachel Wilding

Therapist Intern

Graduate Intern · Naropa University

In-Person

Learn more about Rachel Wilding Schedule with Rachel

Faith Collins

Therapist Intern

Graduate Intern · Naropa University

In-Person

Learn more about Faith Collins Schedule with Faith

David Lindheim

Therapist Intern

Venya Therapeutics

Learn more about David Lindheim Schedule with David

Lucia Terpak

LPCC

Venya Therapeutics

Learn more about Lucia Terpak Schedule with Lucia

Victor Steeghs

Therapist Intern

Venya Therapeutics

Learn more about Victor Steeghs Schedule with Victor

Venya Therapeutics began with a single conviction: that the best healing happens when skilled clinicians work side by side, sharing wisdom across modalities. As our team grows, every practitioner is chosen for clinical excellence and the warmth to meet you as a person, not a diagnosis. What we share is a belief in your capacity to change, and a commitment to walking beside you while you do.

Contact Us

alex@dignitycw.com · Call 720-938-7320

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Owner & Visionary

Alexandria Mezyad

MA, LPC-S · Owner · Therapist

Alexandria Mezyad is the owner and visionary behind Venya Therapeutics, a mental health therapist with almost a decade of experience working with adults, teens, and couples. She earned her Bachelor's in Psychology from Penn State University in 2014 and her Master's in Transpersonal Psychology with a concentration in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Naropa University.

Alexandria's specialties focus on sexual trauma, OCD, Complex PTSD, grief, relationship struggles, forensic populations, spirituality, and helping people and families navigate personality disorders.

She has extensive experience with the criminal justice system and high-impact restorative-justice dialogues, giving victims a voice and helping offenders take accountability. That work fuels her commitment to community safety and resilience, and gives her a rare understanding of how early, compassionate support can change a life.

Alexandria's style is warm yet direct. She blends EMDR, attachment-based therapy, trauma-informed care, and existential, mindfulness-based, and Jungian approaches with creative practices like storytelling, art, nature, and reflective work, and she draws on her background in documentary filmmaking and writing to help people tell and transform their own stories. She is passionate about creating an inclusive, affirming space for LGBTQ, BIPOC, and people from all walks of life.

Venya Therapeutics is the next chapter of that vision: the experience she's spent a decade building, offered to the public through a new approach and a growing team, so that more people, and a wider community, can find meaningful, lasting change.

Education & Credentials

MA, Transpersonal Psychology (Clinical Mental Health Counseling), Naropa University · BA, Psychology, Penn State University (2014) · Licensed Professional Counselor – Supervisor (LPC-S)

Specialties

Sexual TraumaOCDComplex PTSDGriefRelationshipsForensic PopulationsSpiritualityPersonality DisordersEMDRRestorative Justice

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Graduate Intern

Austin Gates

Therapist Intern · Naropa University

Austin Gates is a graduate intern at Venya Therapeutics, completing his Master's in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling at Naropa University. He works with adults and couples via telehealth, under the supervision of Alexandria Mezyad, MA, LPC-S.

Austin's approach is contemplative and embodied. He draws on mindfulness, Gestalt, transpersonal, existential, and humanistic traditions, meeting clients in the present moment, with attention to the whole person and the questions of meaning, freedom, and identity that come simply with being human. His work is grounded in years of personal meditation and spiritual practice, including his practice within the Inayati-Maimuni Sufi Order.

Much of what draws him to this work is the tension between the performed self and the lived one: how the pace and noise of modern life pull us away from present experience, and what it takes to return. He brings patience, steadiness, and genuine regard to each conversation, trusting every person's own capacity to grow.

Education & Supervision

MA, Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling (in progress), Naropa University · Practicing under the supervision of Alexandria Mezyad, MA, LPC-S

Approaches & Focus

MindfulnessGestaltTranspersonalExistentialHumanisticAdultsCouples

← Back to team Schedule with Me

Counseling Intern

Rachel Wilding

Counseling Intern · Naropa University

Rachel Wilding (she/her/ella) is a graduate student in the nature-based clinical mental health counseling concentration at Naropa University. She is an 8.5-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and has spent many years in corporate tech, from small startups to large-firm marketing and account management. She holds an MS in Environmental Policy and Management and is a student member of the American Counseling Association.

Rachel's superpower is empathic relating: compassionately guiding us to our blind spots, and empowering individuals to reclaim their inherent wisdom. Fascinated by Jungian and decolonial depth psychology, as well as existential and humanistic theories, she believes the mind, body, and spirit are inseparable. She is a mystic, an intuitive, and an earth-based medicine ceremonial initiate in the Shipibo Amazonian tradition.

Rachel's life experience brings a desire to support individuals who are curious to explore their own relationship to spirituality, those tending grief, those experiencing major life transitions, those with terminal diagnoses, and military veterans.

Education & Supervision

Graduate student, Nature-Based Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Naropa University · MS, Environmental Policy and Management · Student member, American Counseling Association · Practicing under licensed supervision

Approaches & Focus

Jungian & DepthExistentialHumanisticGriefLife TransitionsVeteransSpirituality

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Counseling Intern

Faith Collins

Counseling Intern · Naropa University

Faith Collins is a graduate student in Naropa's Nature-Based Transpersonal Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. She pursued her Master's after spending half a decade in the mental health field, working as a Behavioral Specialist (Recovery Coach) and Group Facilitator at an adult inpatient residential facility for eating disorders, and as a field instructor in Wilderness Therapy with adolescents.

That work inspired her to help individuals reclaim their joy, either again or for the first time. She believes you are the expert in your own life, and she is here to help guide you into the life you want to live. She works with a wide range of challenges, including trauma, grief, depression, and relationships with self and others, tailoring therapy to each person's unique needs, wants, and style.

Faith views therapy as a relational space to explore what's working, what isn't, and to build tools for navigating life with greater ease. Her style is direct, warm, and compassionate.

Education & Supervision

MA (in progress), Nature-Based Transpersonal Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Naropa University · Practicing under licensed supervision

Approaches & Focus

ACTSolution-FocusedCBTDBTMotivational InterviewingNature-BasedTraumaGrief

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Psychotherapist

Emily Cohn

MA, LPCC · Naropa University

I am a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and a graduate of Naropa University, where I earned my master's degree in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Clinical Mental Health Counseling. My work is grounded in mindfulness, attachment theory, trauma-informed care, and evidence-based clinical practice, with a focus on intimacy, sexuality, relationships, and embodied healing.

I specialize in helping individuals and couples explore sexuality, intimacy, and relationships through a compassionate, psychologically informed, and sex-positive lens. I believe sex is more than behavior. It is a language that reflects how we connect, love, protect ourselves, experience pleasure, navigate shame, and make meaning in our relationships.

Outside of my clinical work, I am an established erotic artist whose work is rooted in body positivity. My artwork celebrates the diversity of human bodies and invites greater self-acceptance, authenticity, and freedom from shame.

I work with individuals and couples who want to deepen emotional and sexual intimacy, navigate relationship challenges, heal from shame, and better understand themselves and their relational patterns. My approach is sex-positive, trauma-informed, mindfulness-based, and grounded in evidence-based clinical practice. I believe sexuality is not something to fix. It is something to understand, integrate, and experience with greater honesty, connection, and aliveness.

Education & Licensure

MA, Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Naropa University · Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC)

Approaches & Focus

Sexuality & IntimacyRelationshipsCouplesSex-PositiveMindfulnessAttachment TheoryTrauma-InformedEmbodied Healing

Direct line480-734-8907

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Venya Therapeutics

David Lindheim

Therapist Intern

David's full bio is on the way. Check back soon to learn more about their background, approach, and the work they offer at Venya Therapeutics.

Direct line720-893-0262

← Back to team Get in touch

Venya Therapeutics

Lucia Terpak

LPCC

Lucia's full bio is on the way. Check back soon to learn more about their background, approach, and the work they offer at Venya Therapeutics.

Direct line720-608-1635

← Back to team Get in touch

Venya Therapeutics

Victor Steeghs

Therapist Intern

Victor's full bio is on the way. Check back soon to learn more about their background, approach, and the work they offer at Venya Therapeutics.

Direct line210-315-6922

← Back to team Get in touch

About · Our Vision

Many modalities, one roof, a shared belonging

Venya Therapeutics exists to provide healing to individuals, and to create community through events, teachings, and retreats. We bring many modalities under one roof so care is integrative rather than fragmented, and we mentor emerging clinicians so this work keeps growing. Our aim: a center where individual transformation and shared belonging strengthen each other.

The Meaning of Venya

The Vulture

The vulture was chosen as the symbol of Venya because it represents something deeper than overcoming adversity.

Vultures are drawn to what has been left behind. They exist in the places where something has ended, and yet their presence is not a symbol of death; it is part of what allows life to continue.

They do not turn away from what is difficult, broken, or decaying. They meet it exactly as it is.

There is something deeply human in that.

We all carry pieces of our lives we would rather abandon: grief, shame, mistakes, relationships that ended, identities we outgrew, versions of ourselves we no longer recognize. Healing does not always mean leaving those things behind. It can mean returning to them with enough compassion to discover what is still worth carrying.

The vulture represents reclamation.

The belief that what has been discarded is not necessarily without value. That an ending does not make what came before it meaningless. That even the most painful chapters of our lives can become part of what nourishes whatever comes next.

Vultures also serve an extraordinary purpose in the natural world: they cleanse what others leave behind, protecting the ecosystems around them and returning what has died back into the cycle of life.

For Venya, the vulture is a reminder that healing is not about becoming someone new.

It is about reclaiming what was always yours.

Your story.
Your voice.
Your creativity.
Your connection.
Your dignity.

And ultimately, your capacity to love and be loved.

The Meaning of Venya

Guided by Dignity

At the heart of Venya is the legacy of my grandmother, Dignity.

Dignity, in a sun hat, in the garden, set beside a sunflower — Dignity

She grew up on a farm in Puerto Rico, surrounded by the natural world and developing a lifelong connection to the land, plants, and animals. Gardening was one of the ways she remained connected to that world, a relationship with nature that was less about tending to something and more about belonging to it.

She was also deeply spiritual and intuitive. Known within her community for her psychic gifts, she believed in forms of healing that extended beyond the traditional: healing through nature, intuition, spirituality, connection, and the wisdom carried within us and passed down through generations.

Her worldview lives at the heart of Venya.

We believe healing can also be a return: to the body, to nature, to creativity, to community, to intuition, and to the ancestral ways of knowing that many of us have become disconnected from.

Her name, Dignity, carries its own meaning within our work. Dignity is not something another person can grant us. It is inherent. Even when life, trauma, shame, grief, or circumstance makes us forget our worth, it remains.

Venya means lovable. Dignity reminds us that we are worthy.

Together, they hold the heart of what we hope people rediscover here: the parts of themselves that were never truly lost, only waiting to be remembered.

In many ways, Venya is my grandmother’s garden grown into something new, a place where old wisdom and modern healing can exist beside one another, and where people can find their own way home.

Understanding Our Clinicians

Types of counselors you'll meet

LPC

Licensed Professional Counselors have completed a master's degree, thousands of supervised clinical hours, and full state licensure. They practice independently and carry full responsibility for your care.

LPCC

Licensed Professional Counselor Candidates hold their master's degree and are accruing supervised hours toward full licensure. They bring current training and best practices, with an experienced supervisor behind every step.

Internship

Our interns are advanced graduate clinicians completing their Master's degrees at Naropa University in Boulder, CO, practicing under close supervision from a licensed supervisor. Their bios will be added soon, alongside the rest of our growing team.

Finding the Right Fit

The relationship between you and your therapist is the strongest predictor of good outcomes, so your comfort comes first, always. If the clinician you start with isn't the right fit, you're free to switch at any time, no explanation needed.

Questions

Frequently Asked

Our office is at 2581 Park Lane, Unit A, Lafayette, CO. We also offer virtual sessions (video and audio) anywhere in Colorado. Hours are 10:00 AM–6:00 PM.

Yes. Book a free 20 to 30 minute consultation by phone or Zoom. One of our interns will reach out to get you scheduled and answer any first questions.

Our team includes LPCs, LPCCs, and supervised interns completing their Master's degrees at Naropa University, led by Alexandria Mezyad, MA, LPC-S.

Insurance is coming soon. In the meantime, reach out and we'll talk through your options.

We practice from a transpersonal, holistic stance, treating symptoms with evidence-based methods while honoring meaning, spirit, and the whole person. Your story is never reduced to a label.

Individuals, couples, teens, and young adults navigating trauma, anxiety, life transitions, relationships, and the search for deeper meaning.

Groups

Healing in good company

Some things only shift when they're witnessed. Our groups are small, skillfully held, and built around one idea: you don't have to do this alone. These circles are forming now; schedules and facilitators will be announced soon.

The Mindfulness Group

A weekly practice of coming back: to the breath, the body, and the present moment. Guided sitting, gentle inquiry, and the steadiness that grows when you practice alongside others.