Compassionate, Identity-Aware Counseling for Individuals and Couples

Your emotional health is connected to more than a list of symptoms. Relationships, family history, culture, identity, community, work, health, and earlier experiences can all influence how you feel and how you respond to the people around you. Cherry Creek Therapy provides personalized online therapy in Aurora, Colorado, for adults and couples seeking a deeper understanding of these connections. Jennifer Gardner, M.A., MFT-C, supports clients experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationship conflict, infidelity, life transitions, and other emotionally challenging circumstances. Online counseling allows you to receive thoughtful, relationship-centered care from a private location in Aurora without traveling to an office.

Schedule a Free 15-Minute Consultation

Therapy That Sees You in Context

People do not develop in isolation. The ways you manage stress, approach conflict, establish boundaries, or respond to emotional closeness may have been shaped by family relationships, cultural expectations, earlier experiences, and the environments in which you learned to survive. A behavior that now causes difficulty may once have helped you remain safe, maintain connection, avoid rejection, or meet the expectations placed on you. Therapy can help you understand these patterns without shame. Jennifer uses a systemic approach that considers:

• Family and relationship experiences

• Cultural and religious influences

• Race and ethnicity

• Sexual orientation

• Gender identity

• Community and environment

• Work and financial pressures

• Physical health

• Trauma and loss

• Social expectations

• Major life transitions

You do not need to separate parts of yourself to participate in therapy. Your identities, experiences, relationships, and values can all be part of the conversation.

Why Aurora Clients Choose Online Therapy

Aurora covers a wide geographic area, and traveling across the city or into Denver for a weekly appointment may not be practical. Online therapy allows you to select a therapist based on fit, experience, and approach rather than distance alone. Virtual counseling may be helpful if you:

• Have a demanding or frequently changing work schedule

• Want to avoid traffic and travel time

• Work remotely or have limited time away from work

• Have parenting or caregiving responsibilities

• Need greater scheduling flexibility

• Experience chronic illness, pain, or mobility limitations

• Prefer to speak from a familiar environment

• Want greater privacy

• Travel or move frequently within Colorado

• Have had difficulty locating a therapist whose approach feels right

• Want access to relationship-focused or trauma-informed treatment

• Need a consistent option during changing life circumstances

Online appointments are available from any appropriate private location in Aurora. You must be physically located in Colorado during the session.

Online Individual Therapy in Aurora

Individual therapy offers dedicated time to explore what you are experiencing beneath the roles and responsibilities you carry each day. You may be managing work, family, relationships, and other obligations while privately feeling anxious, emotionally exhausted, uncertain, or disconnected from yourself. You might consider online individual counseling if you are:

• Experiencing anxiety or depression

• Feeling overwhelmed by stress

• Recovering from trauma

• Grieving a significant loss

• Navigating a major change

• Struggling with self-esteem

• Having difficulty setting boundaries

• Repeating painful relationship patterns

• Coping with chronic illness

• Processing miscarriage or reproductive loss

• Experiencing disordered eating

• Questioning religious beliefs

• Healing from religious trauma

• Feeling uncertain about your identity or direction

• Seeking personal growth

• Wanting a healthier relationship with yourself

Therapy can help you recognize patterns, understand their origins, and consider new ways of responding. The process is collaborative. Jennifer does not assume that every client needs the same type of treatment or should define healing in the same way.

Online Anxiety Therapy in Aurora

Anxiety often involves more than worry. It may appear as perfectionism, irritability, physical tension, difficulty sleeping, people-pleasing, avoidance, overthinking, or an intense need to remain in control. You may feel responsible for preventing every possible problem or managing the emotions of everyone around you. Online anxiety therapy can help you:

• Recognize what activates anxious responses

• Understand the fears beneath overthinking or avoidance

• Develop emotional-regulation strategies

• Establish clearer boundaries

• Respond to uncertainty with greater flexibility

• Reduce perfectionism

• Communicate needs more directly

• Make decisions with greater confidence

• Separate realistic responsibility from excessive self-blame

• Develop a more compassionate internal voice

Therapy does not require you to stop caring or become unaffected by stress. It can help you respond without allowing anxiety to direct every decision.

Online Depression Therapy

Depression can affect energy, motivation, concentration, sleep, relationships, and your sense of meaning. Some people feel visibly sad. Others continue functioning while feeling emotionally numb or disconnected from their lives. You may benefit from online depression therapy if you are experiencing:

• Persistent sadness

• Hopelessness

• Emotional numbness

• Low motivation

• Fatigue

• Isolation

• Loss of interest

• Difficulty concentrating

• Changes in sleep or appetite

• Feelings of worthlessness

• Harsh self-criticism

• A sense that nothing will meaningfully change

Therapy can help you explore the emotional, relational, and situational experiences contributing to depression. Together, you can begin identifying manageable ways to reconnect with your emotions, relationships, values, and sources of meaning.

Online Couples Therapy in Aurora

Couples rarely begin therapy because of only one argument. They often seek support because disagreements have become part of a recurring pattern in which neither person feels understood. One partner may seek closeness by asking questions, criticizing, or demanding a response. The other may become defensive, shut down, or withdraw to prevent the conflict from escalating. Both people can end up feeling alone. Online couples therapy helps partners see the pattern affecting them and develop a more emotionally responsive way of communicating. Jennifer works with couples experiencing:

• Recurring conflict

• Communication difficulties

• Emotional distance

• Loss of affection

• Problems expressing needs

• Boundary disagreements

• Parenting stress

• Financial conflict

• Differences involving intimacy

• Extended-family tension

• Major life changes

• Trust concerns

• Infidelity

• Financial betrayal

• Uncertainty about staying together

Couples therapy is not about determining which partner is defective or entirely responsible. Both people are invited to understand the relationship cycle, communicate more honestly, and take responsibility for the changes needed to create greater safety.

Online Marriage Counseling

Marriage counseling can support couples during periods of distress and couples who want to prevent distance from becoming more entrenched. Online marriage counseling may help you:

• Identify the cycle beneath recurring arguments

• Communicate with less criticism

• Listen without immediately becoming defensive

• Express vulnerable emotions more clearly

• Rebuild trust

• Repair after painful interactions

• Establish healthier boundaries

• Discuss money and parenting more productively

• Navigate differences involving family or culture

• Restore emotional and physical connection

• Make difficult relationship decisions

• Strengthen the partnership during a major transition

The goal is not a conflict-free marriage. It is a relationship in which partners can disagree without losing emotional safety or respect.

Online Premarital Counseling in Aurora

Premarital counseling helps couples prepare for the emotional and practical realities of marriage. Partners can love each other deeply while holding different expectations about money, communication, parenting, family, intimacy, and everyday responsibilities. Online premarital counseling may include conversations about:

• Communication styles

• Conflict and emotional repair

• Finances

• Career expectations

• Household responsibilities

• Children and parenting

• Emotional and physical intimacy

• Religion and cultural traditions

• In-laws and family boundaries

• Privacy and independence

• Trust and commitment

• Expectations for married life

• Past experiences that influence the relationship

The purpose is not to eliminate every difference. Premarital counseling helps partners recognize where expectations may differ and create a respectful way to approach those differences together.

Online Trauma and PTSD Therapy in Aurora

Traumatic experiences can affect the nervous system, relationships, identity, and ability to feel safe. You may know that an experience has ended while continuing to react emotionally or physically as if danger is still present. Trauma symptoms may include:

• Intrusive memories

• Nightmares

• Hypervigilance

• Avoidance

• Emotional numbness

• Shame

• Self-blame

• Difficulty trusting others

• Strong reactions to reminders

• Feeling detached or unreal

• Difficulty with emotional or physical closeness

• Persistent fear, anger, or grief

• PTSD symptoms

Trauma-informed therapy does not require you to immediately describe every painful detail. Jennifer helps clients establish safety, understand trauma responses, develop emotional-regulation skills, and strengthen internal resources before moving into deeper processing.

Online EMDR Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing may help clients process traumatic memories and other emotionally distressing experiences. Online EMDR can use virtual bilateral stimulation, guided eye movements, alternating audio, or self-administered tapping. Virtual EMDR is not appropriate for every client or every stage of treatment. Jennifer evaluates privacy, emotional stability, treatment needs, available resources, and readiness before beginning trauma processing. Extended 80-minute appointments may be recommended for EMDR and other trauma-focused work.

Online Infidelity and Betrayal-Trauma Therapy

Infidelity, hidden financial activity, and other significant betrayals can affect a person’s basic sense of safety and reality. You may repeatedly revisit what happened, question whether you know the whole truth, or feel unable to trust your own judgment. Jennifer provides online betrayal-trauma therapy for individuals and couples experiencing:

• Shock

• Anger

• Grief

• Anxiety

• Intrusive thoughts

• Hypervigilance

• Loss of self-worth

• Recurring triggers

• Difficulty trusting

• Uncertainty about the future

• Conflict about transparency and boundaries

• Questions about whether the relationship can be repaired

Individual therapy can help you process the emotional impact and rebuild self-trust. Couples therapy can help partners address accountability, communication, boundaries, emotional safety, and the requirements of meaningful repair. Therapy does not decide whether you should stay or leave. It helps you approach that decision with greater clarity.

Online Grief and Loss Counseling

Grief can follow many forms of loss. You may be grieving:

• The death of someone important

• Miscarriage

• Child loss

• Divorce or separation

• Estrangement

• Serious illness

• A change in physical ability

• Loss of a job or career

• A major relocation

• A religious community

• An identity or expected future

Grief can include sadness, anger, guilt, numbness, relief, confusion, or several emotions that appear to contradict each other. Online grief counseling gives you room to experience grief without pressure to follow someone else’s timeline. Therapy may help you:

• Process painful or complicated emotions

• Understand changes in identity and relationships

• Prepare for difficult dates and reminders

• Address guilt or unfinished feelings

• Develop support for daily life

• Honor what was meaningful

• Move forward without minimizing the loss

Your grief does not need to look a particular way to deserve care.

Online Counseling for Life Transitions

Transitions can disrupt routines, roles, relationships, and your sense of identity. Even welcome changes can produce uncertainty. Therapy may be helpful while you are:

• Beginning or ending a relationship

• Becoming engaged or married

• Becoming a parent

• Changing careers

• Moving to a new community

• Adjusting to a change in family structure

• Coping with illness

• Separating or divorcing

• Reconsidering religious beliefs

• Entering a different stage of adulthood

• Caring for aging family members

• Making a difficult personal decision

Online therapy provides a consistent place to consider what you are leaving, what you are entering, and what you need during the transition.

Additional Concerns Supported Through Online Therapy

Jennifer also works with concerns involving:

• Chronic illness

• Miscarriage

• Disordered eating

• Faith crises

• Religious trauma

• Communication

• Boundaries

• Self-esteem

• Emotional overwhelm

• Relationship patterns

• Financial betrayal

• Child loss

• Accidents and injuries

• Abuse

• Identity

• Personal growth

If your concern is not listed, the free consultation can help determine whether Cherry Creek Therapy is the right clinical fit.

Therapeutic Approaches Used in Online Counseling

Jennifer’s work is systemic, trauma-informed, empathetic, and personalized. Depending on your needs, therapy may incorporate:

Internal Family Systems

IFS helps clients understand internal conflict with compassion. One part of you may want connection while another wants distance. One may seek change while another fears what change could bring. IFS helps you listen to these protective responses instead of fighting or shaming them.

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy helps partners recognize the attachment fears and needs underneath conflict. Couples learn to identify their negative interaction cycle and create more emotionally responsive ways of connecting.

EMDR

EMDR may help clients process trauma and emotionally distressing experiences. It can be adapted for online treatment when clinically appropriate.

Relational Life Therapy

Relational Life Therapy supports emotional honesty, accountability, healthier boundaries, and greater balance within relationships.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Attachment-based work explores how earlier relationships influence present experiences of trust, closeness, abandonment, rejection, and emotional safety.

Mindfulness and Emotional-Regulation Skills

Grounding and emotional-regulation strategies can help clients remain present during distress and respond more intentionally. Jennifer chooses therapeutic approaches based on the needs, identities, history, strengths, goals, and comfort of each client or couple.

What Happens During an Online Session?

Online therapy takes place through a secure video platform. You will need:

• A private location

• A reliable internet connection

• A computer, tablet, or phone with a camera

• Working audio

• Enough uninterrupted time for the appointment

Headphones may provide additional privacy. Turning off notifications and allowing several minutes to settle before the appointment can also help you focus. During the session, you may:

• Discuss current concerns

• Explore difficult emotions

• Identify recurring patterns

• Connect present experiences with earlier relationships

• Practice communicating a need

• Process grief or trauma

• Develop grounding or emotional-regulation strategies

• Consider a difficult decision

• Identify changes to practice between appointments

Therapy is collaborative. You are encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback throughout the process.

Online Therapy Throughout Aurora

Virtual counseling is available to clients throughout Aurora, including people living in and around:

• Aurora City Center

• Southlands

• Saddle Rock

• Tallyn’s Reach

• Seven Hills

• Mission Viejo

• Meadow Hills

• Murphy Creek

• Hoffman Heights

• Conservatory

• Heather Gardens

• Aurora Highlands

Online appointments are also available to clients in nearby Colorado communities, including Centennial, Parker, Denver, Commerce City, and surrounding areas. Cherry Creek Therapy does not maintain an office in Aurora. Services for Aurora residents are provided online. You must be physically located in Colorado at the time of the session.

Online Therapy Rates

Cherry Creek Therapy is a self-pay practice and is not currently accepting insurance.

Current rates are:

• Individual therapy: 50 minutes — $150

• Couples therapy: 50 minutes — $175

• Extended couples session: 80 minutes — $240

• Extended individual session: 80 minutes — $240

• Consultation: 15 minutes — free

Extended sessions are encouraged for the first couples appointment and may be recommended for ongoing couples work. Extended individual appointments may be recommended for EMDR or trauma processing. A limited number of sliding-scale appointments may be available. Please ask about current availability.

Meet Jennifer Gardner, M.A., MFT-C

Jennifer Gardner provides focused, compassionate therapy for adults and couples. She earned a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Regis University. Before becoming a therapist, Jennifer worked as a school teacher with certification in special education. That experience helped shape her understanding of how systems influence individual and relational well-being. Jennifer celebrates diverse client identities, including racial identity, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. She recognizes that the intersection of a person’s identities is an important part of the therapeutic process. Her training includes:

• EMDR

• Internal Family Systems

• Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy

• Relational Life Therapy

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy

• Grief treatment

• The Developmental Model for Couples

Jennifer’s style is warm, thoughtful, empathetic, and goal-oriented.

Frequently Asked Questions About Online Therapy in Aurora

Does Cherry Creek Therapy have an office in Aurora?

No. Cherry Creek Therapy’s physical office is in Denver. Services for Aurora clients are provided online.

Can I receive online therapy anywhere in Aurora?

Yes. You may attend from any private and appropriate location. You must be physically located in Colorado during the appointment.

Is online counseling available for individuals and couples?

Yes. Jennifer provides online individual therapy, couples therapy, marriage counseling, premarital counseling, and betrayal-recovery support.

Can couples attend from separate locations?

This may be possible when both partners are physically located in Colorado and each has adequate privacy and technology. Discuss the arrangement with Jennifer before your appointment.

Can I receive online EMDR?

EMDR may be adapted for online treatment when Jennifer determines that it is clinically appropriate for your needs, readiness, and circumstances.

Does Cherry Creek Therapy accept insurance?

Cherry Creek Therapy is currently self-pay and does not accept insurance. Limited sliding-scale appointments may be available.

How much does online therapy cost?

A 50-minute individual session is $175. A 50-minute couples session is $175. Extended 80-minute individual and couples sessions are $240.

How long are online appointments?

Standard appointments are 50 minutes. Extended appointments are 80 minutes.

Is there a consultation before I begin?

Yes. Jennifer offers a free 15-minute consultation online, by phone, or in person.

Is online therapy appropriate during an emergency?

Online outpatient therapy is not intended for emergency or immediate crisis intervention. If you cannot remain safe or need urgent help, contact local emergency services or an appropriate crisis resource.

Begin Online Therapy in Aurora, Colorado

You deserve therapy that considers your full experience—not only the symptom that brought you to the page. Online counseling can help you better understand your emotions, heal from painful experiences, strengthen your relationships, and develop ways of living that feel more aligned with your needs and values. Cherry Creek Therapy offers compassionate virtual therapy for individuals and couples throughout Aurora and across Colorado.

Schedule a free 15-minute consultation with Jennifer Gardner, M.A., MFT-C, to ask questions and determine whether online therapy is a good fit.

Call: (303) 720-6287

Online therapy available throughout Aurora and across Colorado

In-person appointments available in Denver at:

90 Madison Street
Suite 102
Denver, CO 80206