James Nee Hundley, LCSW

Hi, I'm James.

I grew up in rural Wisconsin, where I developed a deep appreciation for community and nature. As a kid, I always knew I wanted a career that could help make the world a kinder, safer place. Growing up queer in a small community at the turn of the 21st century is a heavy influence on who I am today. I know what it's like to not feel comfortable inside or outside of your shell. What it's like to feel like you don't fit anywhere, like there's something inherently wrong with you that you need to change or fix. For me, supportive family, community, mentorship, good therapy, and hope are what got me through. That's how I found myself studying social work.

When I started college, I was certain I didn't want to be a therapist. I chose social work for the advocacy, the community work, the idea of changing systems. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with the clinical side too and saw how much of an impact both worlds create. It turned out that working with people on their inner worlds, their wounds, their resilience and their external circumstances made an even deeper impact than I'd imagined.

After earning my Master's in Clinical Social Work and writing my thesis on interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders, I moved to Colorado and built a career across nearly every corner of the mental health field: community mental health, inpatient care, in-home programs, early childhood consultation, and eventually private practice. In every setting, I learned how to hold space for people. I learned to lead with curiosity, to resist the pull toward assumptions, and to stay genuinely interested in what was true for this person, in this moment. My training and knowledge matter — but they're most useful when they're in service of understanding you, not defining you. We are all too singular to be reduced to a diagnosis or a set of behaviors.

That philosophy — curiosity over certainty, relationship over protocol — is what eventually shaped the Turtle Shell Approach and guides my work today.

Today, my practice specializes in complex trauma, attachment, and whole-person affirming care. I work with adults, children, and adolescents — including many clients who identify as LGBTQIA+ and/or neurodivergent.

I also work with therapists across the country through Turtle Shell's consultation and continuing education programs, helping clinicians deepen their trauma-informed, attachment-based EMDR practice — especially with the complex cases that don't fit neatly into a protocol.

Outside the therapy room, I'm a husband, an animal parent to three cats (Jake, Twyla, and Nate) and a dog (Piper), an avid gardener, and someone who genuinely believes that our relationships with each other, with animals, and with the natural world are deeply underrated sources of healing. That's not just my personal philosophy. It directly informs my clinical work through Human-Animal Interaction and EcoTherapy approaches.