About Us

Rites of Passage

Our mission is to help each client live a happy, healthy, and productive life, whatever that might mean to them; to live a life that is successful for them and the world around them. The Rites of Passage programs gives clients life skills that will carry beyond treatment into their everyday activities.

We value and respect each individual and work hard to tailor our program in a way that is most beneficial.  Our integrated and holistic approach means that we are not only looking to treat overt symptoms, but also to find and heal underlying causes of issues. This kind of deep level change can be very challenging but also is incredibly rewarding and empowering.

Rites of Passage LLC is a teen, young adult, and adult residential extended care facility for clients 11 years of age and older.

At our facility, located in Delta County, Colorado, we work with trauma, mental health issues, dual diagnosis, substance issues, eating disorder, and failure to thrive issues.

Rites of Passage creates customizable programs utilizing transpersonal, mindfulness, trauma, DBT, CBT, somatic, art, horticulture, wilderness, ecotherapy, and wellness therapies as well as our signature equine assisted psychotherapy programs. What makes Rites of Passage unique is our holistic approach to everything we do. Clients who choose Rites of Passage will spend their time here being treated with a whole-person approach to therapy. No one is 'just another case'; each person is a unique individual and utilizing our interactive program, each client co-creates their own form of treatment using the many tools that we have available.

Rites of Passage is committed to creating holistic and unique programs for each client. This is what makes the difference between success and failure and creates long-term, lifelong success for each client who chooses our program.

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Staff Bios

Alisha Adrian

Alisha Adrian

Executive Director

Owner of Rites of Passage LLC and The Phoenix Rising Programs Residential Extended Care Program and the Intensive Outpatient Programs for both co-ed adults and Teens.

I am a transpersonal counselor/psychotherapist, life coach, healer and artist. I have done extensive transpersonal (mind/body/spirit) work as well as trauma/PTSD work and I also have extensive experience as a dual-diagnosis counselor working with substance and eating disorder issues that stem from trauma. I have a masters in counseling psychology, a certification in transpersonal counseling, a certification in equine assisted psychotherapy and life coaching, LPC licensure in the state of Colorado and am a first level Reiki practitioner and certified in the healing modality Jin Shin TARA. I have spent many years working with shamanistic and energy healing modalities. I engage clients in all types of transpersonal work including art therapy, dream therapy, ceremony and self-growth.

All of the types of therapy and coaching that I engage in are experiential therapy modalities because I have found that when a person engages their body/mind and spirit together in a session, more is synthesized and integrated allowing breakthroughs to occur quickly and learning or relearning that they engage in allows clients to begin to use this new knowledge immediately as opposed to strictly cognitive based counseling, which can take weeks, months or years without any significant results being made.

My work is very diverse because I utilize all of my experience as well as everyone else on the staffs to find what works for each client who comes into our program to excel and focus upon what she needs to achieve her goals.

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Kim E. Briarwood, MA

Greetings. My name is Kim Briarwood. I am a case manager & therapist at Rites of Passage. I enjoy working at the center. We have so many therapy animals and being someone who loves all animals, it is a perfect environment to teach and to learn. Many of the programs I teach help clients with trauma, sexual orientation and identity issues. I graduated with honors from Upper Iowa University in 2011 with an undergrad in Human Services and Psychology. I finished my graduate degree with a Masters of Arts in Psychology from University of the Rockies in 2013. I enjoy being outdoors which is the classroom at Rites of Passage - the animals and nature are our teachers and guides. I look forward to meeting and working with you.

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Denise Canchola, DNP, PMHCNS, BC

Dr. Canchola earned her undergraduate degree at Trinity University in San Antonio, her master’s degree in psychiatric and mental health nursing at Yale University in New Haven and her doctor of nursing practice at the University of Miami. She is a nurse psychopharmacologist and a psychotherapist dedicated to the delivery of personalized and effective mental health services.

Areas of expertise

  • Telepsychiatry – solid skills at interaction with patients remotely
  •  Psychiatric Assessment – comprehensive assessments with dynamic formulations using the biopsychosocial model of DSM V diagnosis
  •  Behavioral Health Integration – skilled at stabilizing patients for return to the PCP or psychiatric prescriber for management, while remaining available for ongoing consultation.
  •  Substance use Disorders and comorbidities
  •  Borderline Personality Disorder
  •  Bipolar Disorder I and II
  •  Schizophrenia
  •  Major Depression – Treatment Resistant
  •  PTSD and Trauma informed care
  •  Chronic Pain with behavioral issues
  •  Anxiety driven frequent ER visits involving cardiac or respiratory complaints
Arlyn Alderdice

Arlyn Alderdice

Expressive Arts, Office Admin, Gardener

I am a highly sensitive person with a wide variety of tools in my tool-belt because of needing to learn to navigate this wild and beautiful world. At Rites of Passage, in addition to office administration, you might find me offering the following Expressive Arts: rhythm & drumming, African marimba, 5 Rhythms dance practice, embodiment practices, pottery, writing, book-making, and process art. You might also find me offering these or other Practical Arts: gardening, herbalism practice, cooking, nature appreciation, walking as a practice, gentle stretching, and yoga.

I am the co-founder of The Embodying Rhythm School of Percussive Arts and The Embodying Rhythm Marimba Project. I am also a teacher, performer and administrator. I am a graduate of Matrix Leadership Institute’s Facilitator Training and earned my B.A. in Expressive Arts through Prescott College. I have also completed extensive dance training with Melissa Michaels and Wild Life Productions (now Golden Bridge) in Boulder, CO. I have studied herbalism with Alicia Michaelson of Paonia, CO and gardened in the area with my family for most of my life. I am a mother and I find much resource and healing in nature through gardening, hiking, camping, and backpacking.

Aaron Jerad

Aaron Jerad

I teach permaculture design and hands-on gardening.  The broad intention of permaculture is to meet the needs of people in such a way that the needs of the earth and it's creatures is also met. The principles and methods of permaculture are based in careful observation of nature. We can use this method of design to create regenerative communities, farms, gardens and more. On a personal level, the principles are excellent day to day tools that help use see and feel more integrated into the world around us. My teacher liked to say "All the world's problems can be solved in the garden."

I have been a student of yoga and meditation for most of my life and offer hatha yoga classes several times a week. Using breath and simple movements Yoga is a body centered practice that strengthens the body and also calms the mind.