Meet Kolbe

Kolbe is a Catholic somatic psychotherapist whose work feels like Lectio Divina for the body. Grounded in St. John Paul II’s theology of the body, Teresa of Avila’s mysticism, and Gendlin’s felt sense, Kolbe guides soul-tired seekers through the ache of anxiety, trauma, and addiction—not by fixing, but by feeling.

With a voice shaped by Henri Nouwen’s wounded healer and a soundtrack of Noah Gundersen and U2 playing in the background, he bridges the sacred and the scientific, the poetic and the practical.

This is trauma healing in the Eucharistic key—slow, relational, Spirit-led.

This is accompaniment for the restless who long to come home to their own body and to God.

Why I’m Here

I’ve touched the deep wounds in my life and emerged from the shadows—alive.

Now I’m here to hold space for you, as others once did for me.
To be real, to laugh and cry, to listen and learn, to create, to mess up, to grow, to play—

to be truly with you.

The Incarnation grounds me in this calling—teaching me to be present in the world, but not of it.
In a culture that values product over presence, I crave what is real.

I believe healing is closer than we think—more present than the day itself. His name is Jesus.
When I pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done,”
I’m asking the Spirit to move us—body and soul—to heal our world from the inside out.

I’ve come to see the body as the place where healing begins.
It’s where we feel, hold, and release pain.
Where we return, reconnect, love, and are made new.

The body is the bridge to the heart,
the motor for change,
the place where the Holy Trinity finds room to dwell.

Too often we forget: we are our bodies.
I pray and practice to remember—
and to guide others in remembering, too.

My Journey

I consider myself a “wounded healer” for my community in the sense that my own journey informs my unique presence, insight, and compassion for others’ healing process as a psychotherapist and guide. I’ve cracked open my own wounds, brought them to Jesus with the proper help, and allowed those scars to become the very places of refuge for me and my clients. Through my wounds, Christ continues to draw me in deeper to Himself, who is Love and Truth.

In a phrase, I’m here to say, “I get it, I’ve been there, now let’s find a way for you too.”

Let me share with you a little of what I mean.

Why did I become a therapist?

Because I know firsthand how trauma can cause disconnection within ourself, with God, and with our closest relationships.

But I also know the hope of repairing those ruptures too.

As befalls every human being, I had to navigate experiences that were overwhelming for me in and outside the home. Over the years, I took on a complex of developmental and acute trauma in my body. For a good while, my trauma went unprocessed, activating a web of burdens I’ve had to let go of integrate over time. I give thanks for all of it. I would not be where I am today otherwise.

When faced with the daily activation from untreated trauma, my nervous system found adaptive ways to regulate my experience. Early on, these patterns were not always helpful or healthy, though effective in the short term. I became overly attached to piety, perfection, performance, and approval (to name a few) as pathways for establishing neuroceptive safety. I was bypassing my body’s stored wisdom, emotions, and intuition - key pieces I was left missing from my sense of self. It was a steep price to pay to make up for lacked belonging within and around me. In my chase to save my life, I was losing it. It slipped away the more I gripped it tighter.

And yet, there was no other way for the Lord to slowly draw me through and into true connection with Him, myself, and others.

Many times the Lord has intervened through grounding people & places in therapy, mentors, prayer, nature, mindful breath & movement, and local community. In time, I was able to cultivate a haven in these relationships, regulate my nervous system, release stored trauma in my body, learn new skills, find meaning, and practice my way forward. By learning to soften in the body, I found greater flexibility of mind to flow with the Holy Spirit’s daily promptings.

While on my journey of interior terrain, I passed through high school, college, exploring careers, marriage, parenthood, and graduate school.

We humans are always learning, always healing, always going deeper. I’m still healing (I’d be naive to say otherwise) but I’m far enough along my path to humbly yet courageously practice in the footsteps of my mentors, guides, and teachers - and like them, to be a havening dock of refuge for the weary and heavy burdened.

Now I get to witness the mystery found in holding space for others. I am ever grateful to my clients who truly teach me the greatest lessons as we discover together the meaning of our humanity.

How I Show Up in My Work

As I have received, so I also wish to give. I have been working with children, adolescents, and adults ranging from 6-70 years old as they come to resolve their experiences of childhood sexual abuse, neglect, sexual assault, divorce, family separation, grief, PTSD, Complex PTSD, and trauma-related anxiety, depression, and dissociation.

While I am always bent on holding attentive presence for my client’s person and process in therapy, I keep my story and many of its chapters close by in case a client needs them. By setting my story on one side and my therapeutic skills on the other, I focus my attention on my client and their process in the session. This aims at creating a humane and authentic meeting place for my clients to do the work of therapy.

Throughout the course of treatment, I identify where my client’s process is getting stuck and then I incorporate neuroscience, evidence-based psychology, psychosomatics, breathwork, mindful movement, and healing prayer to move their unique process along. In other words, my hope is that therapy offers the space to empower the restoration of my clients’ whole personhood:

their nervous system, head, heart, spirit, relationships, and way of life.

Learn more about my approach

Let's Talk

Values that inform my work

Christocentricism

Personalism

Co-Regulation

Nourishment

Integration

Resilience

Transformation

Balance

Resilience

Teachers that inform my work

Some of what I enjoy

In my free time, I love communing in the ritual of coffee with friends and family, curating nourishing spaces to soften into experience and narrative, and letting my inner child of God play among the crests of both sea and land. I also love dancing & cooking with my wife, traveling, biking,& picnics as a family, tinkering on something old, or soaking in a good book. Lately, I’ve been exploring more photography and Christian Iconography.

Wondering how we might work together?

If you’d like to explore psychotherapy, collaborate on an offering, or inquire for more information, please fill out this form, or reach out by phone or email, and I can be in touch with you soon.