Lex Rafael, MA, LPCC | Therapist (Denver, CO)

Lex’s therapeutic work is largely focused on supporting children, adolescents, and their parents through a child-led, relational, play-based approach. She believes that a child’s big behaviors are often trying to communicate something important that the child may not yet have the words to express. Rather than simply trying to change the behavior, Lex helps children and their caregivers understand the needs and emotions beneath the behavior, fostering greater emotional safety, connection, and resilience.

Lex received her master’s in counseling from Pacifica Graduate Institute. During her graduate program, she worked as an elementary school therapist, supporting children with emotional and behavioral concerns, such as anxiety, low self-esteem, difficulty focusing or sitting still, relationship and attachment challenges, and thoughts of hurting themselves or others.

Imaginative play is at the heart of Lex’s work with children. Her sessions often involve storytelling, art projects, and creative movement (although she is just as happy to play a board game or toss a ball if that’s what a child prefers). With a background in acting and improvisation, Lex easily enters a child’s imaginative world to meet them where they are—be that on Mars or in a jungle—while also maintaining clinical awareness to recognize and support the emotional themes unfolding through play.