A smiling person with short blonde hair wearing large black glasses, a septum ring, and a choker necklace, standing in front of colorful illustrated posters.

Sage Nestler, MSW

I am an LGBTQ+ mental health specialist & consultant, as well as a leading educator on borderline personality disorder (BPD). I live with multiple, severe mental and physical illnesses. Throughout my experiences with treatment and recovery, I found that professionals with lived experience provided me with the most compassionate care.

That is why I established Releasing the Phoenix.

I wanted to provide you with care and insight from not only myself, but other professionals with lived experience.

Affirming care is essential when it comes to our queer community, and it is at the center of my work - including training practitioners, organizations, and other professionals on how to provide better care for queer folx and employees.

Founder & CEO of Releasing the Phoenix

Sage Nestler, MSW, a leading educator on borderline personality disorder, speaking into a microphone with a backdrop of patterned curtains.

Pronouns: He/They

Email: sage@releasingthephoenix.org

  • LGBTQ+ Holistic Mental Health & Wellness Specialist

  • Consultant for Leaders & Organizations on LGBTQ+ Mental Health

  • Leading Educator on Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

EXPERTISE

  • Education and Awareness Surrounding Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

    • De-stigmatization, Advocacy, and Awareness

    • Continuing Education for Professionals

    • Support, Education, and Resources for Loved Ones

    • Coaching, Education, and Support for Those with BPD

  • LGBTQ+ Holistic Mental Health & Wellness Specialist

    • Including interdisciplinary methods with an emphasis on creativity, such as:

      • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Techniques

      • Transformational Coaching

      • Mindfulness Coaching

      • Therapeutic Art Coaching

      • Inner Child Healing

      • Music Therapy

      • Bibliotherapy

        • Horror for anxiety, phobia, and trauma

        • Romance/Erotica for exploring sexuality and sex through a safe format

  • Educator on LGBTQ+ Needs, including:

    • Unique experiences the community faces that impact mental health

    • Advocacy for rights, equity, and inclusion

    • Compassionate care in the workplace for people served as well as employees

    • Advocating for yourself, your needs, and your rights

  • Consultant for Leaders & Organizations On:

    • LGBTQ+ safeguarding

    • Ethical ways to scale

    • Employee wellbeing & avoiding burnout

    • Creating LGBTQ+ specific resource hubs

    • Putting trauma informed care into action for populations served as well as employees

    • DEI initiatives

  • Continuing education for social work professionals on highly stigmatized disorders & compassionate care

  • Education for professionals on informed care, and improvements organizations can make for true trauma informed care

MENTAL HEALTH TOPICS & CONDITIONS:

  • Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

  • Neurodivergence

    • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

    • Autism spectrum (ASD)

    • ADHD

  • Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and trauma

  • Eating Disorders & Body Image Concerns

    • Body dysmorphia

  • Gender Exploration & Body Image Concerns Related to Gender

    • Gender dysphoria

      • with an emphasis on non-binary/gender expansive folx

  • Anxiety, Stress & Burnout

  • Anxious-Attachment Healing

  • Coping as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)

  • Understanding, Healing From, and Navigating Narcissistic Abuse

  • Supporting Queer Loved Ones with Mental Illness

QUALIFICATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS & EDUCATION

  • Master of Social Work (MSW)

    • Metropolitan State University of Denver

    • with an emphasis on mental health, early childhood education & policy

  • Bachelor of Science in Social Work (BSSW)

    • Metropolitan State University of Denver

    • Minor in Criminal Justice and Applied Indigenous Studies (AIS)

  • Certification in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

    • West Pines Behavioral Health

  • Certification in Bibliotherapy

    • From Book Therapy

  • Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

    • Advanced Transformational Life Coach

    • Holistic Mental Wellness Practitioner

    • Inner Child Healing Practitioner

    • Transformational Life Coaching

    • Mindfulness Coaching

    • Therapeutic Art Coaching

    • Nature Therapy

AWARDS

  • Best Policy Proposal & Revision Capstone

    • Metropolitan State University of Denver Master of Social Work Class of 2019

ASSOCIATIONS

FEATURES/WRITING

Article Database

Testimonials

“A year and a half ago I found myself going through the most challenging time of my life. My husband and I had separated, and I had so many questions and couldn’t understand his behavior. I poured over articles, blogs and social media support groups trying to understand because something just didn’t seem “normal”.

I found Sage online on a mental health blog. I asked a lot of questions through that forum, and they so kindly replied to me and was so helpful that I decided I needed to work with him regularly to help me navigate this life change.

In addition to helping me understand borderline personality disorder tendencies my husband displayed, they also helped me to let go and come out of my shell.

Sage provided numerous resources to me including meditations, journaling, self-love workbooks and other educational books in regard to BPD.

I highly recommend Sage to anyone who needs help navigating a marriage or relationship with a BPD loved one.”
— Amanda - Former Client
“Sage’s work is unique in that they also have so much personal, lived experiences when it comes to the help they offer others. I’ve been in therapy on and off since childhood and have worked with some amazing professionals, and some not-so-great ones.

Sage is one of the good ones. They genuinely care. I’ve watched a lot of their work behind the scenes this past year and have seen how much passion and energy they put into everything they do.

Sage makes people feel seen and help empower folx to grow into better versions of themselves. They take their work very seriously and have so much passion for what they do, who they help, and a genuine hope for goodness.”
— Lazarus Klein - Contributor