The Clinician
About Dr. Blaine Reilly
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. Educator. Researcher. And the person across from you in the room.
Dr. Blaine Reilly has been practicing counseling since earning his MA in Counseling from Idaho State University in 2007. He has been a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Idaho since 2010, and holds an PhD in Counselor Education and Counseling (2016) — a doctoral degree focused on the theory, practice, supervision, and research of the counseling profession.
Before entering private practice, Dr. Reilly spent years in counselor education — training and supervising future counselors, conducting research, and teaching at the graduate level. He has held faculty positions at Boise State University and Adams State University, where he contributed to counseling programs, clinical supervision, and the academic study of counseling practice.
That background in education and supervision isn't incidental. It shapes how Dr. Reilly thinks about his work with clients. A counselor educator spends years examining how counseling works, what the research says, where different approaches succeed or fall short, and how to help someone develop the skills to do this work with integrity. That kind of reflective practice doesn't stop when you leave the classroom.
Education & Credentials
- MA in Counseling — Idaho State University, 2007
- Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) — Idaho, licensed 2010
- PhD in Counselor Education and Counseling — 2016
Academic Experience
- Faculty, Boise State University — counseling program
- Faculty, Adams State University — counseling program
- Clinical supervision, counselor education, research, and teaching
Dr. Reilly's clinical experience spans a range of populations and presenting concerns — anxiety, depression, grief, life and career transitions, existential questions, compulsive behaviors, and the ordinary but weighty work of being a person trying to live well. His current practice focuses on individual counseling for adults.
In His Own Words
Therapy isn't about fixing what's broken — it's about stepping fully into your life and trusting the process. I coined the phrase 'heal people heal people' as a direct response to 'hurt people hurt people.' It serves as a daily reminder that healing is a dynamic, never-ending journey, and I am fully committed to my own ongoing growth so I can show up for you with real presence and humanity.
Right now, my personal dive into vulnerability involves acting classes, writing a one-act play, and doing improv. Outside of private practice, I'm a former Boise State University professor who maintains strong ties to the program, and I'm currently immersed in my somatic experiencing practitioner training.
Off the clock, I love running with my dog Wally, mountain biking, catching great films, diving into literature and nonfiction, and catching as many sunrises and sunsets as I can.
On the Compacity Approach
The Compacity approach grew out of a straightforward clinical observation: the most effective counseling seems to happen at the intersection of two things — a genuine, non-shaming relationship, and an honest confrontation with what is actually happening.
Compassion alone — pure warmth, unconditional positive regard with no edge — can feel good without producing much change. Challenge alone — direct, confrontational, insight-focused — can produce insight without the safety needed to act on it.
Compacity is the attempt to hold both. The word "Compacity" is a portmanteau of Compassion and Capacity — a reminder that the goal is expansion, not just comfort, and that expansion requires both a warm container and honest work.
That's the brief version. The fuller version is what happens across a series of sessions with a real person working on something real.