Since living is breathtaking and hard, we need the stories of our own transformation to become the personal myths that guide us, that help us remember who we are and how we’re joined to life. Every day, life asks us to accept that we are radiant and broken. And time asks us to uncover what it means to love the world. And love asks us to gather the gifts that come from keeping the window of our heart open, while integrity asks us to continually widen our circle of compassion. No matter what we face, we’re asked to stay tender and resilient, so we don’t harden to life.
One of the ethical challenges in living is not to betray ourselves while giving of ourselves, tricky business at best. In the end, all the insights we can unravel and all the paradoxes we can enter are meaningless if they can’t help us live and be of service to each other.
From THE ONE LIFE WE’RE GIVEN: Finding the Wisdom that Waits in Your heart, Mark Nepo, 227.
Bio
Michael (or Mike) was born in Cushing, Oklahoma in 1949, a member of the baby boomer generation only four years after the second world war…making him sound really old. He grew up in Tulsa attended public schools graduating from Will Rogers High. He attended Oklahoma State University graduated with a degree in psychology. After getting married a month later, he and his wife Jeannie (Archambo) moved to Dallas/Fort Worth for grad-school. First attending Southwestern Baptist Seminary for an MRE degree then on to the University of Texas at Arlington for a masters in Social Work. They have lived in Tennessee since 1975, long time Volunteers!
He worked first as director of social services at a small non-profit. Then after only two years at twenty-eight, he became the executive director for the next eighteen years with a budget growing to half a million before he left. In January 1996 he began what became a successful private practice first in Green Hills and then Brentwood up until closing his physical office at the outset of COVID-19. He totally retired February 2021. He and Jeannie celebrated their 50th anniversary in June 2021. They have two successful, married daughters, two great sons-in-law and four teen grandchildren, two girls, two boys. One family lives in Jackson (TN) the other Chattanooga.
Mike and his wife have lived in middle Tennessee all these years now making their home in Franklin.
He has enjoyed cycling and lap swimming over his adult life. He’s taken multiple men’s groups on whitewater trips. He enjoys reading as well as hiking, photography, travel, gardening, and writing.
He’s an INFJ, which as you read, may explain a lot. He’s an enneagram type 2.
LIGHT a candle. BUILD a bridge. LEND a hand.
Testimonials
“It’s safe to say I would not be the person I am today without the care and counsel of Mike Malloy. His countenance immediately allows you to feel comforted and heard. Mike has helped me work through some of the greatest issues in my life and talking with him somehow makes the hard times feel less difficult. I trust his wisdom and expertise entirely and consider my work with him a great fortune.”
— Artist/Musician
“Personal, relatable stories of one man’s journey to better understand himself, and the lessons learned from the people and places along the way. Grab a coffee and join the trek through this crazy, often hard, sometimes mystical, yet always beautiful life to know we are one of God’s beloved.”
—Dale Esworthy, music publishing executive, friend, work-out buddy and other pilgrim on the same journey
“Michael Malloy has been a trusted friend for nearly forty years. He thinks well and has a great heart of compassion. His education and life’s work has equipped him as a wonderful “people helper”. He reads widely and in his own writing is able to synthesize, summarize and highlight the good ideas of others in ways I always appreciate. He’s a good story teller, capturing the moments of grace in the ordinary experiences of life! I enjoy reading his work—and I think you will as well.”
—Don W. Dunnington, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ministry, Southern Nazarene University, Bethany, Oklahoma
“Not all counselors are the same. Some are judgmental and directive while others simply sit back, listen and take your money with you leaving confused and not sure if you want to go back. Not Michael Malloy. He meets you where you’re at. Attempting to gently guide you to a healthier more spiritual life. The transformation you experience with Mike in thinking and behavior is subtle, but effective and makes you more mindful of who you are and what your role is in ‘the game of life.’ Letting go of your ego is hard work, but rewarding and this is the guy that can help you do it.”
— Physician | Williamson Co.
“Michael Malloy, in my judgment, represents the gold-standard in compassionate caring professional counseling. He is well-trained, well-read, and well-practiced. He makes space in his heart for his clients. His listening skills are extraordinary. He makes his office mekom hanekhama–a safe place. I can refer individuals to him in great confidence.”
— Harold Ivan Smith | Author/Speaker
“Michael is a friend of over thirty years who is a gifted counselor with deep insight into the human condition. He understands our faith and perception of God either liberates us or limits us in our daily lives. Through the ups and downs of living, Michael has a keen insight into helping us navigate the rough waters of life. His writings exemplify that truth.”
—Paul Bane, pastor emeritus New Hope Church, Brentwood, Tennessee
“The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mystical. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.”
— Albert Einstein
As we get older…”You find that you are more amazed by the ordinary moments of life. Everything seems more like a miracle. You really don’t care if you are God’s handmaiden or God’s fool. You just want to bear witness. And you want to do it in the most authentic voice possible.”
Kent Nerburn, Dancing with the Gods: Reflections on Life and Art
“Too much ‘God talk’?
You’ll find a good bit of God/god talk in these blogs. I operate from the assumption that there is no separation of secular vs sacred, it’s all sacred. Also, in trying to face all the fears we encounter daily in our lives, I believe the route in dealing with those is spiritual…one that is all about connecting with others and with the Creator.
My hope would be that whatever ‘God box’ you may start with, that it is totally blown up along the way. From St. Bonaventure, 13th Century; "God is an infinite circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere”.
In The Gifts of Imperfection Brene’ Brown writes:
“Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion.”
Michael Malloy
Education:
Oklahoma State University - Bachelors in Psychology
Southwestern Baptist Seminary - Masters in Religious Education
University Of Texas at Arlington - Masters in Social Work
Professional affiliations prior to retirement:
NASW (National Association of Social Workers)
SASH (The Society of the Advancement of Sexual Health)
Male Survivor: Overcoming Sexual Victimization of Boys & Men
“I cannot cause light. The most I can do is to put myself in the path of its beam.”
— Annie Dillard