Tim Spalla, M.A., LPCC
Mr. Spalla is a former US Army Ranger and Iraq War veteran. Following active duty, Mr. Spalla spent several years working as a private contractor providing direct intelligence support for various SOCOM CT missions throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. In 2015, Mr. Spalla launched a private intelligence and training firm dedicated to combatting wildlife crime networks operating throughout Africa. Although he couldn’t articulate it at the time, the decision he had made to continue working overseas after leaving active duty had become a way for him to avoid the spiraling mental health crisis he was facing. For years, Tim had lived in fear of both the stigma, and the judgment from healthcare providers and therapists who would look aghast as he shared details of his military and private contracting experiences.
In 2019 Tim’s professional and personal life collapsed under the weight of his mental health challenges. In this collapse, it became clear that he needed to focus on healing himself and his young family. Tim stopped deploying and committed to addressing his struggles with addiction, PTSD, rage, hopelessness, boredom, risk-taking, and most importantly for him - shame.
Wishing to learn the skills he needed to help others who were suffering from the same issues, Tim enrolled in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Regis University in Denver, Colorado. It was also during this time that Tim discovered the healing power of sacred plant medicines and consistent mindfulness practice. For the first time in his life, Tim began to feel a sense of wholeness and clarity of purpose. As a clinical mental health intern, Tim spent more than a year working at the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) where he actively sought out and engaged justice-involved Veterans from all branches, many of whom were GWOT Veterans like him. This was a particularly humbling and healing experience for Tim, who as a Ranger, had spent his final deployment managing a detention facility in Iraq, and renewed his commitment to serving as a mental health advocate and provider for the Veteran community.
Currently, Tim is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Candidate and owner of Agile Wellness Group, a Denver, Colorado-based private therapy practice specializing in individual and group therapy, serving high-trauma and marginalized populations, the SOF community, providing psychedelic harm-reduction and integration support. Additionally, Tim is pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Saybrook University in Pasadena, California.
He can be reached at:
tim.spalla@agilewg.org; 720.413.1747
Or
www.agilewg.org