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Michael Matthews, LMFT: I grew up in LA on the beach, played basketball, and surfed. I went to Humboldt State and helped save 46,000 acres to expand Redwood National Park. I have been a rehabilitation counselor for the disabled and an LMFT for 40 years. I can help with major depression, ADHD, anxiety, grief and bereavement, mood disorders, alcoholism and drugs, PTSD, and trauma, and I often use humor to create safety and trust.
My approach
My primary approaches are with Carl Rogers and Client-Centered Therapy, interpersonal therapy, solution-focused therapy, Family Systems (Bowen), Reality Therapy, Jungian Therapy, and mythology (like Harry Potter and Star Wars) from Joseph Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
My focus
I work with adults of all ages and backgrounds. I am very comfortable working with clients who come from difficult family backgrounds (like myself), who are dealing with depression, isolation, alcoholism, internet addiction, and social anxiety, as well as anyone who has a major mental health disability, including Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Personality Disorders, major physical disability such as quadriplegia, and OCD with negative, intrusive thoughts. I encourage insight and awareness in therapy and taking action in life.
My communication style
I am very easy to be with and very supportive of my clients, and I use understanding and validation all of the time. I also use my 71 years to provide insight into mental health issues, and I do that with a sense of compassion and humor. I wouldn't ask my clients to do anything to get better that I haven't done myself. I deal with serious, in-depth therapy about issues that really matter, like religion, mortality, despair, and purposeful living.
My journey to mental healthcare
I played sports as a kid, but I was with my mom when she died in 1968, then my dad passed 6 months later, then my first girlfriend soon after. I started a long journey of recovery, and I read everything I could to manage my process. I am very concerned for people dealing with their mental health, and I love helping them manage their journey when it gets really rough. I have a great deal of understanding of mental health issues and major disabilities, but it's my "inner" knowledge that helps the most in my therapy. I am pretty good at establishing safety and trust very quickly with my clients.
My goals for you
I mostly ask my clients to set the goals in their therapy, but I pitch in as well, and I would describe it as a collaborative process.
My first session with you
I will be very happy to meet with you and to get to know you and your life. There are questions always asked in a first intake session, but anything and everything can be said by my clients. I think I'm very creative in how I encourage my clients toward insight and healing.
