About Tiana
I invite you to think about what stories you tell about yourself, your relationships, and your potential. How do these stories hold you back from truly thriving?
As we do our own internal work, our life journey takes shape.
Dream big.
Welcome! I’m Tiana Mile, LCSW, RYT, CMT
I'm a therapist who is passionate about integrating the mind, body, and spirit to metabolize stress and trauma, and nourish connection and belonging in an inherently disconnected world. I would be honored to walk with you.
About My Journey…
I grew up in a diverse area of New Jersey, outside of New York City. After graduating college, I was lost and confused about who I was and what I wanted. I had a sense of despair and deep unhappiness about the life that I was living, and my pre-determined position in a much bigger system. Inside, there was a knowing that I needed to slow down and tune in in order to find my own truth.
The Appalachian Trail and a calling to connect with the earth called me. I had little wilderness experience and I brought all the wrong things— however, I walked solo for 2175 miles for 6 months on a soul-searching journey. I experienced a lot of hard, dark, and lonely moments. I also found a deeper place in myself than I had previously experienced. All the beauty and harshness that the wilderness possesses stripped me down to the basics, to a core, real place where I met my “real self,” (I conceptualize effective therapy as being a similar experience of removing all the defenses we have to wear in daily life to survive, and getting us back in contact with our truest nature.)
From there, I began working for a therapeutic wilderness school and led teens who were experiencing depression, anxiety, and substance abuse challenges on weekly expeditions. I could relate so deeply to the raw honesty of these teens as they struggled with real questions about life, their identities, and their relationships with their parents or caregivers.
In my early 20s, I had a serious back injury which left me in chronic, debilitating pain. Again, my teacher showed up: pain. I could no longer exercise, which had been my previous route to find some calm and internal stillness in the midst of all the pressures of life. I felt alone. I was forced to really experience the anxiety, grief, fear, and loneliness which was present- and to see that the ways I was coping, distracting, and avoiding these inevitable feelings wouldn’t work.
I was drawn to meditation and kundalini yoga, and ended up volunteering and living at Kripalu Yoga Center to study mindfulness. Since that time in my life, living mindfully has become a daily practice, contemplation, and challenge. Mindfulness comes down to using all the moments of life as a practice to re-center and become more awake- we all get lost in our thoughts and habitual patterns- and we can all practice coming back into the moment and embodying what we want to create/be in our lives.
In my late 20s, I went to massage school and deeply immersed myself in the science of the body and healing. I also solo walked the Pacific Crest Trail (2650 miles). While I didn't know it at the time, it closed the door on the story that I was telling myself that I was broken, different, and alone. These stories can shape us, define us, and impact the way that we relate to the world. If we can break loose of the stories, we can open to the possibilities, opportunities, and vitality of life.
Later on in life, I walked the Long Trail (270 miles) and Colorado Trail (480 miles). These walks have been my route to facing my fears, my conditioning, and my truth. We all have our own routes and we all have these parts of ourselves to look at. Additionally, the "jobs" in wilderness therapy, community mental health, schools, and hospitals I've been lucky enough to receive have given me so many gifts: meaning, community, challenge, growth, and humility. My relationships continue to allow me to love and feel challenge daily.
I’m on an ongoing journey to understand the advantages and identities I hold, including being cisgender, American born, experiencing white privilege, and temporarily able-bodied, and to act in solidarity with those who hold different social locations than me. My cultural background is Armenian, Russian, Austrian, and Jewish. I commit to approach issues of identity and oppression with humility and care. I believe that systems of oppression contribute to ongoing, lasting trauma and it is my intention to be part of the repair and healing.
I am a daughter, wife, and mother to two young children. In my free time, I love studying mindfulness and social justice, meditating, running ultra-marathons, cooking lentil dishes, camping, yoga, and skiing. My personal relationships are built on connection, curiosity, genuineness, and fun.
My life is all about being real, being active, being outside, and living with meaning and purpose.
About My Background…
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• Master of Social Work Degree (MSW) from University of Denver-2012
• Bachelor of Arts Degree (BA) from Bucknell University-2000
• Certified AEDP Therapist- 2021
• Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate- the study of our body’s relationship with social, environmental, developmental, relational, spiritual, cultural and racialized wounding, and healing- with Nkem Ndefo, Scott Lyons, and Arielle Schwartz- 2021
• Certificate in Integrative Somatic Internal Family Systems (IFS) with Fran Booth- 2022
• Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program- 2-year program for teaching Awareness and Compassion-based practices, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility- with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach- 2021
• Complex Trauma Certification Training Course Level I and II with Janina Fisher- 2020
• Certified 200 hr Yoga Instructor- Kripalu Yoga Center- 2009
• Licensed Massage Therapist- Rocky Mountain Institute of Healing Arts- Massage Therapy/Reiki/Energy Work training- 2007
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Day Treatment:
Adolescent and Family Therapist at Aurora Mental Health Center- Hampden Academy Day Treatment Program, Aurora, CO-2012-2017Wilderness Therapy Programs:
Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, Durango, CO-2010-2011
Passages to Recovery, Loa, UT- 2009-2010
Aspen Achievement Academy, Loa, UT-2005-2009
Summit Achievement, Stow, ME- 2001-2002Hospital setting:
Intern Therapist at Children's Hospital Colorado Eating Disorder Unit, Aurora, CO- 2011-2012School setting:
Intern Counselor at Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning, Denver, CO-2010-2011 -
I am deeply committed to doing my own work and to ongoing supervision, consultation, and training, as the science and knowledge of trauma recovery and healing is always advancing. I am grateful to all my teachers, whose wisdom is always interwoven into our work together.
• Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)- Elemental Psychedelics- 2024
• Somatic Experiencing (SE) course with Holistic Life Navigation- 6 week deep dive into a foundation of safety in the body- 2023
• Somatic Experiencing (SE) course on Shame and Pride; Working with Chronic Pain; and Releasing Trauma with Peter Levine- 2023
• Somatic Psychology and EMDR Therapy to Enhance Embodiment in Trauma Treatment- Dr. Arielle Schwartz- 2022
• EMDR & Parts Work for Treatment Complex Trauma: Somatic Techniques to Decrease Defensiveness and Facilitate Trauma Processing- Dr. Arielle Schwartz- 2022
• Somatic Internal Family Systems (IFS) Training- Susan McConnell- 2022
• Ongoing trainings with Angel Kyodo Williams and White Awake on Liberation, race, and individual/collective awakening- 2021
• Somatic Experiencing (SE) Skills Course- Trauma and Memory Skills Course To Get Unstuck and Restore Your Life- Peter Levine- 2021
• Power of Awareness/Mindfulness and Compassion Training- Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield- 2020
• Polyvagal Informed Therapy Master Class- Deb Dana- 2020
• The Clinical Applications of Polyvagal Theory in Trauma Treatment- Stephen Porges and Deb Dana-Integrating the Science of Safety, Trust, Self-Regulation, and Attachment- 2020
• The Advanced Master Program of the Treatment of Trauma- with Stephen Porges, PhD, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, and Peter Levine, PhD- 2020
• The Hakomi Method Essentials Program in Somatic and Mindfulness-Centered Psychotherapy- 50 hours-2019
• Trauma and the Embodied Brain with Bonnie Badenoch- 40 hours- Relational Neuroscience for Healing Trauma- 2019
• Transcendental Meditation (TM) Training- 2019
• Assistant in Core Training; Essential Skills I and II in AEDP- 2019, 2020
• Year Long Core Training in AEDP- 80 hours- 2019/2020
• Year Long Core Training in AEDP- 80 hours- 2018/2019
• Essential Skills Training I AEDP- 80 hours-2018
• Essential Skills Training II AEDP- 80 hours- 2018
• Externship in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy- 40 hours-2017
• AEDP Immersion Course with Diana Fosha- 40 hours-2017
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy II with Steven Hayes (ACT II)-2016
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy I (ACT I)- 2015
• Level 1 Training Sensorimotor Psychotherapy in Affect Regulation, Attachment, and Trauma- 125 hours-2014
• Basic EMDR Training with Barb Maiberger- 50 hours-2013
• Certificate in Trauma Studies, DU- 2012
• Gestalt Therapy Training- 200 hrs- 2010/2011
• Hakomi Somatic Psychotherapy Training with Ron Kurtz- 100 hrs- 2010
• 100 hour Yoga Teacher Training- Santa Barbara Yoga Center- 2005
• Training in Reiki and Energy Work
• 10-day silent meditation sits. Buddhist Meditation in Thailand and the Vipassana Meditation tradition in U.S.