Vanessa Fawn Colburn, MS, LPC-S, Certified Sandtray Therapist, Mediator
Vanessa Fawn Colburn is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Board approved Supervisor, Credentialed Mediator, and Certified Sandtray Therapist who specializes in Burnout Prevention and Recovery and Women’s Mental Health.
Her curious nature and purposeful advocacy led her to found a women’s intensive outpatient program, develop and facilitate multiple curricula for healthcare worker training and create pioneering research studies. Fawn’s two current studies involve counselors-in-training and the use of Sandtray in group supervision and nurses-in-training developing proactive burnout prevention skills and use of Sandtray as a reflective and personal strength validating tool.
Fawn has won awards for her work in both inpatient and outpatient hospital settings, as she has worked for over 15 years in Behavioral Health Hospitals, wearing different hats/badges that range from Emergency Department Intake Counselor to Activity Therapist for Inpatient Dementia Unit. She believes that everyone deserves safety and respect. Seeing clients across a wide variety of settings, she has learned that everyone has something in common: they are tired! People seek out support when their stressors have outpaced their skill set, and she seeks to serve them as they explore new ways to care for themselves, build awareness of their responses to stressors and collect more therapeutic tools for their stress management tool bag. She created a four-part evidenced-based model, C.A.R.E., based on Mindful Self Compassion, CBT, Shame Resilience Theory, Trauma Informed Care practices, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She offers C.A.R.E. in individual sessions, group therapy, and community training to both student counselors and LPC-Associates she supervises.
Fawn has collaborated with or presented at EverFi, Valero, Texas A&M, Belmont University, Texa Counseling Association Growth Conference, American Case Management Association, Coastal Bend Hurricane Conference, Corpus Christi Medical Center Women’s Services, Texas State Supported Living Centers, and multiple school districts.
A teacher at heart, Fawn is passionate about curating experiences designed to increase compassion, awareness, and resilience. She does this through evidenced-based self-care practices to help develop healthy responses and engagement in day to day life. Always a student herself, Fawn is learning how to paddle board with her adult twin daughters and enjoys providing foster care for kittens through the Hope and Faith Foundation as well as growing roses.