In the serene community of Gilbert, Arizona, there exists a sanctuary where wounded hearts find solace and broken spirits discover renewal. Beacon of Hope Counseling Services stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of trauma therapy. At its helm is Christine Colburn a woman whose personal narrative of loss and healing has shaped her into one of the most compassionate and effective trauma therapists in the field today.
Beacon of Hope was not born from business ambition but from lived experience. Established in September 2013, this counseling center represents Colburn’s commitment to helping others navigate their own trauma with the same resilience she discovered within herself. “My journey to becoming a trauma therapist wasn’t a straight path,” Colburn reflects. “It was shaped by my own lived experiences, heartaches, and the resilience I had to build along the way.”
Those experiences include profound loss that would have defeated many—her mother’s suicide just before her 13th birthday and, nearly two decades later, her sister’s death by the same means. Add to this a childhood marked by instability, and one begins to understand the depth of emotional terrain Colburn has traversed.
Rather than allowing these tragedies to define her, Colburn transformed her pain into purpose. Though she didn’t begin college until age 29, she pursued her education with remarkable determination, completing her undergraduate degree in a fast-track program before immediately advancing to graduate school with a specialization in Mental Health Counseling.
“I chose to focus on working with children and adolescents,” she explains, “because I knew firsthand what it felt like to need a voice when you didn’t know how to use your own.”
The Healing Language of Play: Innovative Approaches to Trauma Therapy
Traditional talk therapy often falls short when working with trauma survivors, particularly children who may not have the vocabulary to articulate their experiences. Recognizing this limitation, Colburn has developed a multi-faceted approach that incorporates Play Therapy, Art Therapy, Sand Tray work, and Color Therapy—modalities that provide alternative languages for expression and healing.
“Children don’t always have the words to express what they’re feeling, especially when they’ve experienced trauma,” Colburn notes. “Their emotions, fears, and memories often come out in ways that don’t always make sense to adults—through behavior, play, or even silence.”
This insight drives her therapeutic practice. At Beacon of Hope, play becomes more than recreation—it becomes communication. When a child engages with toys, they’re not just having fun; they’re processing emotions and experiences in a way that feels safe and natural. Through symbolic play, children express what they cannot verbalize, allowing Colburn to understand the underlying issues.
Similarly, Art Therapy offers a canvas for self-expression when words fail. For children struggling to verbalize their feelings, putting emotions onto paper through drawing, painting, or even scribbling can be profoundly healing. The artistic process allows them to externalize their inner world, making it easier to explore, process, and ultimately release difficult emotions.
Perhaps most fascinating is Colburn’s use of Sand Tray Therapy—a process where the sandbox becomes a microcosm where children create scenes, tell stories, and act out situations using miniature figures. This therapeutic approach gives children control over their world, something trauma often strips away. It allows them to safely explore their experiences, rewrite their narratives, and begin healing—all without needing to speak if they aren’t ready.
Color Therapy completes Colburn’s therapeutic toolkit, using the emotional resonance of different hues to help children identify and process their feelings in non-threatening ways. Many children instinctively gravitate toward certain colors to express emotions, creating another avenue for communication and healing.
Each of these approaches honors the child’s natural way of communicating. Instead of forcing children to adapt to adult modes of expression, Colburn enters their world—where healing happens through imagination, creativity, and play.
Cultural Compassion: Lessons From the Gila River Indian Community
Colburn’s therapeutic approach has been profoundly shaped by her experience working with the Gila River Indian Community—work that deepened her understanding of intergenerational trauma, cultural resilience, and the importance of honoring one’s history in the healing process.
“In the Gila River community, I saw firsthand how trauma doesn’t just affect individuals—it ripples through families and generations,” Colburn shares. Many of the children and adolescents she worked with carried pain that wasn’t solely their own; it was the weight of historical injustices, systemic challenges, and deep-rooted grief passed down through generations.
Yet alongside this pain, Colburn witnessed remarkable strength, cultural pride, and community bonds that offered powerful lessons in resilience. This experience taught her that effective healing isn’t just about addressing trauma—it’s about recognizing and building upon the resilience that already exists within a person.
The importance of culturally responsive therapy became clear during this time. Meeting people where they are and incorporating their traditions, beliefs, and values into the healing process creates more authentic and lasting transformation. This approach requires a different kind of listening—a presence that goes beyond clinical techniques to honor the whole person and their cultural context.
Perhaps the most profound insight Colburn gained from her work with the Gila River Indian Community was the healing power of storytelling. Their culture, rich with narratives of survival, strength, and identity, reinforced why she does what she does. “Our stories have power,” she reflects. “They remind us where we’ve been, but more importantly, they help us see where we can go.”
This experience continues to inform her practice today. Rather than focusing exclusively on trauma, she embraces a holistic approach that honors each person’s history, strengths, and potential—creating space for their story to be told in a way that affirms their identity and dignity.
The Art of Creating Safety: Building Trust in the Therapeutic Space
For many trauma survivors, vulnerability feels threatening rather than healing. They may have learned through painful experience that trust leads to pain or that their feelings don’t matter. Creating an environment where clients feel safe enough to begin their healing journey is both an art and a science—one that Colburn has mastered through years of practice.
“Creating a safe and respectful environment for my clients is the foundation of my work,” Colburn emphasizes. This safety begins with presence—being fully present with clients from the moment they enter the space, listening without judgment, pressure, or expectation. She meets clients where they are, allowing them to set the pace of their healing journey.
Consistency forms another pillar of safety in Colburn’s practice. Many of her clients, especially children, come from backgrounds where adults have proven unreliable. By maintaining a predictable structure, keeping promises, and showing up in the same warm and welcoming way each session, she establishes herself as a stable, trustworthy presence in their lives.
Perhaps most important is respecting clients’ control and autonomy. Trauma often strips people of their sense of agency, so Colburn deliberately gives that control back in therapy. Clients decide what they want to share and when. If a question feels overwhelming, they can say, “Not today.” If a child doesn’t want to talk, Colburn doesn’t push—instead offering alternative means of expression through play, art, or movement.
The physical environment at Beacon of Hope has been thoughtfully designed to enhance this sense of safety. Soft lighting, comfortable seating, and elements of creativity and play create a calming atmosphere. Options for sensory grounding—from cozy chairs to weighted blankets to sand trays—help clients feel more at ease in the space.
Underlying all these practices is a foundation of empathy and validation. Many trauma survivors have been told their pain is “not that bad” or that they should “just get over it.” Colburn ensures her clients hear the healing words they may have never heard before: “I believe you,” “You are not alone,” and “You don’t have to carry this by yourself.”
This multi-layered approach to safety creates not just a therapeutic space but a relationship where healing becomes possible. It allows clients to be exactly who they are, without fear of judgment, shame, or rejection—often for the first time in their lives.
Every Journey is Unique: Individualized Approaches to Healing
In an era where standardized protocols and one-size-fits-all approaches often dominate healthcare, Colburn stands firmly in her conviction that effective therapy must honor each client’s uniqueness. “To me, treating each client as unique means seeing them as more than just their struggles—it means honoring their story, experiences, culture, values, and strengths,” she explains.
This philosophy permeates every aspect of her practice. From the initial session, Colburn focuses on understanding the whole person—not just what they’re struggling with, but what brings them joy, what makes them feel safe, and how they perceive the world. She recognizes that healing happens differently for different people. For some, it comes through words; for others, through play, art, movement, or quiet reflection. Her role is to provide the tools and space that fit the individual, rather than forcing them into methods that don’t resonate.
With children, this means adapting techniques based on personality and comfort level. Some connect best through play therapy, while others respond more to sand tray or art therapy. For adults, Colburn considers their preferences, coping styles, and personal goals—some benefit from structured approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), while others need a more fluid, person-centered approach.
This individualized approach extends to respecting different healing timelines. Some clients make rapid progress, while others need extended time just to feel safe enough to open up. Some require structure, while others need space to explore. Colburn remains flexible, patient, and intuitive, adapting to what each person needs at each stage of their journey.
“At the heart of it all, I want every client to feel seen—not just as ‘someone in therapy,’ but as a whole, complex, resilient person,” Colburn reflects. By honoring each person’s individuality, she creates space for authentic healing that respects their unique path.
Across the Lifespan: Tailoring Therapy from Childhood to End of Life
One of the most striking aspects of Colburn’s practice is her ability to work effectively across the entire lifespan—from young children just beginning to understand their emotions to individuals facing the final chapters of their lives. While her approach shifts to accommodate different developmental needs and life stages, her core philosophy remains consistent: meeting people where they are, honoring their experiences, and providing a safe space for healing.
With young children, Colburn focuses on helping them express emotions through play, art, and sensory experiences. Since they often lack the vocabulary to describe their feelings, these creative modalities become their language. Children show their world through play long before they can verbalize it, and Colburn’s role is to help them navigate overwhelming emotions, build coping skills, and develop a sense of safety.
Adolescents present different challenges as they navigate identity formation, relationships, and independence amidst the pressures of modern society. Many teens Colburn works with struggle with anxiety, depression, trauma, or societal expectations. Trust becomes paramount with this age group, and Colburn provides a non-judgmental space where they can explore who they are and develop healthy coping mechanisms for the complexities of growing up.
For adults, therapy often centers on navigating relationships, processing trauma, addressing career struggles, building self-worth, and managing life transitions. Many carry unresolved childhood wounds that impact their present functioning. Colburn helps them identify patterns, break unhealthy cycles, and cultivate self-compassion, reminding them that healing is a lifelong journey.
Perhaps most poignant is Colburn’s work with those facing end-of-life issues. Here, therapy becomes a sacred space for reflection, meaning-making, and closure. Individuals at this stage often wrestle with regrets, unresolved emotions, and questions about their legacy. Colburn’s goal is to help them find peace—whether through processing unfinished business, finding forgiveness, or simply having their life story witnessed and valued.
“What I’ve learned from working across all these stages,” Colburn shares, “is that healing and connection look different for everyone. But at every age, we all need the same things: to feel heard, understood, and accepted.”
Witness to Transformation: The Power of Therapeutic Healing
In her years as a trauma therapist, Colburn has been privileged to witness remarkable transformations—moments when clients step from darkness into light, reclaim their voices, and begin to see themselves not as defined by their trauma, but as whole, worthy individuals capable of creating new narratives for their lives.
These transformations aren’t always dramatic or immediate; often, they emerge in small yet profound moments—a child who was too afraid to speak finally finding the courage to share their story; a teenager who believed they were broken beyond repair discovering their own strength; an adult breaking free from generational cycles of trauma to become the parent they never had.
Colburn recalls working with a young boy (given the pseudonym Elijah for confidentiality) who came to therapy after witnessing violence in his home. Initially withdrawn and mistrustful, he would sit quietly with downcast eyes, playing or drawing in a disconnected manner. Through Play Therapy, subtle shifts began to emerge. Elijah started using his drawings to tell stories where he could overcome the things that frightened him.
One day, he brought a picture of a knight—a hero who resembled himself, standing tall with a sword and shield. As Colburn asked about the picture, Elijah’s eyes lit up, and he began to share about the knight being his protector, someone who fought against things that made him feel small and powerless. In that moment, he wasn’t just telling a story; he was revealing his own emerging resilience.
Through consistent support, Elijah gradually learned to feel safe again, to trust, and to use his imagination as a tool for healing. He discovered strength not in the absence of fear, but in the ability to face it—just like his knight.
Experiences like these have profoundly shaped Colburn’s therapeutic approach. “Children like Elijah have taught me that resilience isn’t always about being unbroken—it’s about finding the courage to keep going, even when things feel overwhelming,” she reflects.
For Colburn, these transformations—whether dramatic or subtle—affirm the power of the therapeutic process and the inherent capacity for healing that exists within each person. They are what sustain her through the emotional demands of trauma work and fuel her continued dedication to creating spaces where healing can flourish.
Looking Forward: The Evolution of Trauma Therapy
As Colburn looks to the future of trauma therapy, she envisions a field evolving toward more integrated, holistic approaches, particularly in supporting children and families. “I see a growing emphasis on early intervention,” she notes, “recognizing that addressing trauma in childhood can have a profound impact on long-term healing and well-being.”
She anticipates continued growth in trauma-informed care that extends beyond individual therapy to engage families and broader communities. Since healing rarely happens in isolation, incorporating family dynamics and building caregivers’ capacity to support children through trauma will be essential for creating sustainable healing environments.
Creative and expressive therapies—play therapy, art therapy, and sand tray therapy—will likely remain central to trauma treatment for children, providing non-verbal pathways for processing emotions. Concurrently, technology will play an expanding role, with virtual platforms, mobile apps, and potentially even virtual reality becoming part of the therapeutic landscape. These innovations could make trauma therapy more accessible, especially for families in underserved areas.
Colburn also foresees a more collaborative, multidisciplinary approach becoming standard practice—involving not only therapists but also schools, healthcare providers, and community organizations in creating comprehensive support systems for trauma survivors.
For Colburn personally, this next chapter brings excitement about reaching individuals who might not previously have had access to therapy. Breaking down barriers—whether financial, cultural, or emotional—and helping people from diverse backgrounds recognize that healing is possible remains central to her mission.
As she continues advancing in her career, Colburn remains committed to advocacy and awareness, using her platform to reduce stigma around mental health care and advocate for underserved populations, especially children. Her ultimate goal remains consistent: to be a source of healing, hope, and empowerment for every individual she works with.
The Healer’s Path: Sustaining Compassion in Challenging Work
Working daily with trauma, particularly children’s trauma, exacts an emotional toll that requires intentional self-care practices. For Colburn, maintaining her own mental health isn’t simply personal wellness—it’s professional ethics. Only by tending to her own wellbeing can she remain fully present for those she serves.
“Maintaining my own mental health and well-being in this profession is essential to being an effective therapist,” Colburn acknowledges. “It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the depth of pain and trauma that clients, especially children, experience.”
Her self-care strategy begins with establishing healthy work-life boundaries. After days spent holding space for clients’ difficult emotions, Colburn prioritizes activities that replenish her spirit—quality time with her husband Casey, exercise, meditation, and engaging in hobbies that ground her. These practices help release accumulated stress and restore her emotional equilibrium.
Professional support forms another pillar of her wellbeing strategy. Regular supervision and consultation with colleagues provide safe spaces to process difficult cases, share emotional burdens, and receive perspective on the impact of the work. This community of understanding peers helps prevent isolation and burnout.
Mindfulness and self-reflection enable Colburn to remain emotionally grounded amid challenging work. Taking time to examine her own feelings, thoughts, and experiences helps her distinguish between her emotional state and that of her clients—a crucial boundary that allows her to remain compassionate without becoming overwhelmed.
For those considering entering the field of trauma therapy, Colburn offers wisdom earned through experience: “Approach this work with a deep sense of compassion and a strong foundation of self-awareness.” She emphasizes the importance of understanding one’s own emotional triggers and healing journey before guiding others. Additionally, developing emotional resilience, learning to listen deeply, practicing patience, pursuing ongoing education, and preparing for challenging work are essential foundations for success in this field.
Despite its challenges, Colburn finds trauma therapy profoundly fulfilling. “While the work is hard,” she reflects, “it is also filled with incredible moments of hope and transformation.” For those driven by a desire to make a difference and help others heal, this field offers unparalleled rewards—witnessing the human spirit’s capacity to overcome, transform, and flourish even after the deepest wounds.
In Christine Colburn’s story, we find not just a professional profile but an inspiration—a reminder that our deepest pain can become our greatest gift to others when transformed through compassion, understanding, and the unwavering belief in every person’s capacity to heal.
