Norman Elizondo, BS

Family Wellness Counselor

Owner

Norman has worked with adolescents and families in wilderness therapy since 1998 as a senior field guide, field trainer, field director, education director, and graduation coordinator. Norman was born in the Philippines but grew up in Chicago and earned his BS in Business Management from the University of Illinois, Chicago. During and after college, Norman worked in all aspects of the restaurant business and eventually went to work as a financial consultant.

In 1998, shortly after his mother passed away from cancer, Norman took his ailing mother’s advice to pursue “right work” by working to relieve suffering and confusion for people. Following the lead of several Chicago-area friends, he began as a field guide at Aspen Achievement Academy where he ended up serving well over 500 field days as a field guide and eventually became education director and field director for several years before joining the Open Sky team as an original field guide working with our first students in the summer of 2006.

Norman brings vast and varied experience in wilderness therapy working with families, teens and young adults. As a field guide, he was noted for his adept counseling skills, creative and elaborate ceremony facilitation, and teaching new, up and coming field guides how to be effective in their work. He studied and practiced yoga since the mid-nineties and is a devote meditation practitioner as a member of the Dhyanasangha community of the Dharma Ocean Foundation, a Buddhist community based in Crestone, Colorado. Norman provides the Open Sky team with regular training and guidance in these practices so as to better serve our students and families.

Norman is known for his compassion and insightfulness when working with families and students at Open Sky. When not assisting families at graduation, during the weekly parent support teleconferences, or parent wellness weekends, Norman can be found watching a movie from his large personal collection, cooking delicious and elaborate meals, mountain biking, or participating in a meditation retreat.