Brian Whitney, LCSW

Brian Whitney is a licensed clinical social worker serving patients at the Complete Health Partners in Health clinic. He completed his social work education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and has been licensed as an LCSW since 1997.

Whitney began his career as a psychiatric technician, working with young children in acute psychiatric hospitals and day programs. Many of those children had experienced trauma or sudden life transitions, and he found the work of helping them and their families both rewarding and well suited to him. He soon gravitated toward treating adults, guided by a simple idea: help a parent with their problems and you help the child. Before joining Complete Health, he practiced in a private practice in Denver, and his experience also includes agency settings and outpatient adult therapy.

Today, Whitney provides therapy to adults of all ages. He is trained in trauma-informed CBT, DBT and motivational interviewing, and pursues additional training every year, keeping only the approaches that make sense to him and work for the people he treats. Having worked with patients from age 3 to 93, he has seen the full arc of life from a therapist's viewpoint — the long shadow cast by early difficulties, and the way abrupt change, chronic pain and grief affect people and their families. Together with his patients, he works back toward healthier lives. He keeps things simple. He speaks plainly. He listens closely.

Outside of the clinic, Whitney believes in simple things. A daily walk with his old dogs at sunup or sundown is his own intentional grounding, part of keeping healthy routines in place. He is a lifelong swimmer with a pool nearby and has a longstanding interest in art, though he admits he only gets around to making something every now and then. His wife has taken up gardening this year, which has made him the designated waterer, and the two of them recently started playing pickleball. They work at staying connected to friends, neighbors and family, and at staying open to new things as life and time allow.