Hózhó is for everyone.

Providing accessible, culturally appropriate, and inclusive teletherapy for children, adults, families, and couples in Arizona.

Why “Hózhó”?

It is the Diné word for beauty, wellness, balance, wholeness, joy, and hope. Prayers are ended with the phrase,”hózhó nahasdlii,” which means, “there is beauty again.”

I believe that this word embodies what we are all searching for in counseling, honoring the beauty behind us (past), around us (present), before us (future), and finding a way to the beauty within us.

Much like looking for a rainbow or seeing the growth of new plants after a storm, we can find our way back to beauty after weathering our own personal storms.

 

Meet the therapist

Yá'át'ééh (Hello), my name is Ursula Benward. My pronouns are she/her/hers.

I have been a counselor since 2003, working with children, adults, families and couples from a wide assortment of backgrounds. I worked as a child therapist for 10 years before moving on to be an integration specialist, a family therapist at a residential treatment center, and a crisis specialist for the Southern AZ Crisis Hotline.

I am Naakaii Dine’é (Mexican People) clan, born for Tó Dích’íi’nii (Bitter Water) clan. My maternal grandfather’s clan is Tsé Deeshgizhnii (Rock Gap/Rocky Pass), and my paternal grandfather’s clan is Tsé Ńjíkiní (Cliff Dweller/Among the Rocks). I was raised in northern Arizona on the Diné reservation and went back and forth to Phoenix for school, graduating from Arizona State University with a Masters in Counseling, with specialties in school and community counseling.

I am independently licensed in Arizona as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC-12955). I am a member of the Arizona Association for Play Therapy. I speak and understand some Diné language, and am always working on getting better! I live in southern Arizona with my wife and our three rez pubbies.

My approach

I believe in an integrated approach to therapy, drawing from play and art therapy techniques, cognitive-behavioral exercises, trauma processing, whole body wellness, and more.

I believe that it is important to incorporate lived experience, cultural perspectives, and community supports as part of the healing process.