A Client’s Perspective

Hear from one of Mike’s clients about their experiences with him as their counselor.

Q: Does Mike offer mental exercises and practice/tools to us at home?

A: He always has practical application stuff that he can recommend if you’re looking for “outside ” of session stuff to work on. I don’t recall that he has really assigned much, but if we’re working on a particular issue he might recommend some additional thinking in a particular area. I’m all about the practical application kinda stuff, so I ask those questions a lot in our sessions.

Q: Does Mike recommend lots of books?

A: Back in the beginning, Mike gave me a list of books that he “Recommends” with regards to different topics. Now and then when he’s excited about a particular read, he might recommend it. Honestly, I’ve not read most of the books he’s recommended. Not because they weren’t helpful. I’m just not much of a reader. If there is something particularly important he wants to drive home sometimes he’ll make a photocopy of a passage/chapter or something like that.

Q: Do you feel comfortable sharing with Mike?

A: I feel incredibly comfortable with Mike. It took a few sessions for us to get a good feel for how we would interact with each other, but after that, it has been great. He knows as much about me as my family/best friends know. Who knows, he might even know more! He’s very conversational. He also knows a great balance between when to share from his own experience and when to just listen. I’ve never once thought he was judging me. He is respectful of views that are different than his and doesn’t try to force you to think the way he does. He views himself more as a broker who helps you make sense of all the different pieces of information you have about yourself, not as the person who is supposed to put you together.

Q: Do Mike's recommendations help push you towards progress?

A: Yes, I definitely feel like the things we talk about are helpful. The thing I’ve enjoyed the most if having someone trained to help me make sense of all the stuff going on in my mind. I’m not always the most motivated person, so Mike is helpful at getting me moving when I get stuck on a particular part of life. At the same time, he isn’t overbearing or forceful. Essentially, Mike is friendly, knowledgeable, and really comfortable. He doesn’t push his own agenda and he empowers me to take control of my own counseling process.

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May 1, 2024

Hi, I’m Mike…I talk to trees

So, I told mom what had happened since she had left—she had died Christmas-eve of 1991. I filled her in on great-grandkids, one granddaughter named after her, Evie. I told her about the life we had now after being married almost forty years.

Apr 6, 2024

HOLY KISSING

And what about the wierdos? My teen-age daughters used to come home and talk about ‘that man’ in the church. (Every church has one). “Daddy, that man hugs all the girls with a funny hug.” My reply: “When he does, rub your lipstick all over his shirt and let his wife straighten him out”.

Feb 19, 2024

Deeper, Further, Beyond

until—we notice cracks. Some, if not more of the teachings we heard were incomplete, inadequate if not even misleading. Our own experience over those years did not support what we’d heard, what we’d been told.

Feb 1, 2024

Just Taking Tickets?

Yesterday we buried one of the sweetest, most gentle men I’ve ever known. Clyde was near the top of the list of the most encouraging people. He was a greeter at the sanctuary door of our church for decades—shaking hands and hugging necks. Even if you’d been gone for a good while, Clyde would remember your name.

Jan 29, 2024

Aspiration or Envy or Covetousness

I live in overthink. I have my whole life. It is the disease of introspection. As I overthink this, when it comes to my aspirations, I come down on the good side. We do well to have a sense of aspiration, to imagine or to dream of what could be. It’s been a good path for me—and many others who have created the lives, the culture we all live in the midst of.

The Bittersweetness of Loss

I would not change any of the choices I made. I just wish these guys had lived a few years more until the drug cocktail was available enabling them to live a full life. I’ve lived on to tell you just one of their stories here.

Way too much GOD talk on your Blog!

This fellow finally barked out. “Why do all our conversations wind up talking about spiritual stuff!” I paused for a good while but finally said, “well, because I am one who doesn’t believe there is a secular reality vs a sacred reality, it’s ALL sacred”.

Dec 9, 2023

Post Thanksgiving

It’s the close of the Thanksgiving holiday. Our daughters and families are back home. There is an emotional letdown. We are near the end of the leftovers. I am sitting here this morning, fireplace going, fake candles lite (the good ones), my coffee cup just right, my mind wandering. Things are pretty good.

Nov 20, 2023

A New Twist?

I know commercially the season is a big money maker. I know it is the time where we are cajoled to think about others, to be kinder, more thoughtful and give to charities. I’m not out to change any of that. I just quietly asked, “God, is there another angle you’d like me to see?”

Aug 25, 2023

Stolpersteins

But most wrenching were the Stolpersteins, or stumbling stones. ‘Stumbling’ not so much that you trip over them, but that you must kneel down to read the inscription.