Opening in Men’s Group

November 22, 2021
anger, anxiety, community, coping skills, feelings, goals, group, masculinity, men, mindfulness, personal growth, relationship, self awareness, self care, self esteem, stress reduction, therapy

If you’ve been wanting to join the Men’s Group, good news! There are two openings for new members in our Men’s Interpersonal Process Group.

This men’s interpersonal process group can help you get more real, more honest with yourself and others propelling you into deeper relationships and deeper success through challenge and support by other men. It is a real-time lab, where you will experience yourself and others with greater awareness and be able to try new behaviors and ways of
relating to being more effective in your life.

All topics and goals are welcome. Common themes are anger, depression, anxiety, personal identity, masculinity, relationships with women and/or other men, assertiveness, sex/sexuality, disconnect from emotions, work problems, fatherhood, confidence/self-esteem, accountability, honesty, spirituality, and finding purpose and meaning in life.

This group has been running weekly for the past 5 years facilitated by Chuck and over a decade prior to that facilitated by a psychologist who retired passing it on to Chuck. The long-running stability, diversity of age, background, and experience of the members, and experience of the facilitator are rare.


The ideal man will have had previous or current experience in therapy or other personal growth, but motivation and desire for greater self awareness will also enable you to benefit if this is your first growth experience.


All men are welcome in this group. You are welcome with all of your struggles, your gifts, your challenges, your gender, your sexuality, your personality, your pain, your shame, your questions, your desires.


All of you are welcome here!
Tuesday Evenings
5:00-6:30

$50 per group. 8 week minimum commitment, but most people will want to continue on long term for the support, authentic relationships, and unique opportunity to grow with a safe, established, circle of men and trained, experienced, professional facilitator.

Facilitated by: Chuck Hancock, M.Ed., LPC. Chuck has over a decade of experience participating in and leading men’s groups, experiential groups, therapy groups, wilderness groups, interpersonal process groups, ritual and rites of passage programs, and teaching college courses. Chuck is highly trained in treating trauma, mindfulness,
somatic therapy, and is a member of Colorado Group Psychotherapy Society and a perpetual student of intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship patterns.

What Brings True Peace? Coping vs Thriving in a Chaotic World

March 3, 2021
coping skills, human, personal growth, self awareness, self care

Thankfully, there is no shortage of advice available on how to reduce stress and have more peace.  In our (over) information age, practically any mainstream media, social media and all the flavors of helpers have made clear the benefits of mindfulness, yoga, exercise, and ….

Yet for some reason, people are still struggling, in some ways more than ever!  Why is that?


Yes, you could point to the pandemic along with social and political upheaval, however if we are really honest, you’ll see these problems existed long before 2020.  In the Interpersonal Process Men’s group I run, whenever someone would start to blame the pandemic and social isolation, I would ask, “So which of these problems that you are struggling with the most are new since the start of the pandemic?”  The answer was always none of them.

When I get new clients that have been aware of all the advice of the media, the beginning sessions sometimes sound like, “I know I just need to meditate more or exercise more or talk to my partner about it and it will all be fine.”  That’s not wrong, but it ignores the fact that something is keeping them from actually doing it, and worse it can be turned into a “should weapon.”  That is “I should do this, I know this, what is wrong with me for not.”

Further, all of these skills fall into the category of “coping skills.”  These are things that you can do to either immediately or proactively reduce stress and live a more healthy life.  They don’t, however, actually change any of the deeper patterns that create high levels of stress in the first place.  I’ve worked with many highly educated, top of their field type people who have very disciplined self care and meditation practices  yet are still struggling and suffering deeply.  The higher you climb and the higher the stress, the more coping skills become a bandaid, not a cure.

Side note: if you don’t have effective coping skills, you definitely need them.  See this article for some of my favorites.

So what brings true peace then?  In my experience, it is knowing yourself deeply – which includes knowing your human ego and what influences it as well as knowing your soul and being in harmony within yourself.  This means disarming the critical voices and being able to love and see the value of all parts of us. Once we know these things, we can then live in better balance and alignment with our values and purpose.  This does not mean retreating from society, changing careers, having a better education or better paying job.  Rather, it means you know how to engage fully with life effectively coming from a place of knowing and trusting in yourself.

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.

And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”

― Albert Camus

Fully knowing yourself and coming to a fuller consciousness happens through living life, and through honest self reflection and self appraisal which can happen only in context of relationship with other.  If we do it alone, we stay stuck because we can’t see our blind spots.  Meditation and mindfulness is a great start and an essential tool.  But it doesn’t fully illuminate all parts of ourselves like being in a therapeutic relationship with a trusted mentor guide, therapist, or friend.

So, don’t just settle for coping while adding more and more self-care to your busy schedule, especially if you then don’t get it done and beat yourself up about it.  Healthy coping and self care routines are a great start and necessary foundation, but eventually you’ll need to get off the treadmill and carve out the time to truly know yourself in your shadow and in your brilliance.  And then you will be free to thrive in the world, no matter what challenges are thrown at you.  



Chuck Hancock, M.Ed, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of CO. He has completed comprehensive training in the Hakomi Method of Experiential Psychotherapy, a mindfulness mind-body centered approach. Chuck guides individuals and groups in self-exploration providing them with insight and tools for change. He also incorporates nature as a therapy tool to help shift perspective and inspire new patterns.