Hi, I’m Mike.
I’m a licensed therapist based in Austin, Texas.
I specialize in crisis couples work — helping marriages that are at a breaking point find a way forward before it's too late.
How My Work Will Benefit You
My work is built around one premise:
Most couples therapy moves too slowly for couples who are actually in trouble. Weekly sessions over months while your marriage is on fire isn't a treatment plan — it's a waiting game.
I work differently. I work with urgency. Whether that's an intensive format that compresses months of work into days, or focused weekly sessions with a clear direction, the goal is the same — get traction fast, before the damage goes deeper.
What we actually work on:
Why you keep having the same fight no matter how hard you try to avoid it
What's underneath the anger, the shutdown, or the distance — and how to actually address it
How to stop the patterns that are slowly eroding trust and connection
Whether your marriage needs crisis intervention, ongoing work, or both
How to rebuild something that both of you actually want to come home to
I don't claim to save every marriage.
Some couples come to me for discernment — to figure out whether to fight for it or let it go with clarity and dignity. That's legitimate work too.
What I can promise is a straight answer, a real plan, and no wasted time.
Most couples I work with aren't in crisis because they stopped loving each other.
They're in crisis because they've been running on fumes for years — managing careers, kids, and responsibilities — while the distance between them quietly grew.
By the time they call me, one or both of them is wondering if it's too late.
It usually isn't. But the window matters.
↳ I was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. My parents owned a deli and busted their asses for my younger sister and me.
↳ My mom and dad have both been married three times. For a lot of life, I didn’t think I would get married. I had really unhealthy relationships with women for all of my young life.
↳I studied English Literature in college and really had no plan for after school, so I went and taught in Spain for a year.
↳ For the first decade out of school, I tried to force myself into a typical 9-5, climb the ladder career. I had a mental breakdown/spiritual awakening in 2017 and went back to grad school to become a therapist.
↳ My wife and I went to middle, high school, and college together, but we didn’t officially “meet” until we were living in Austin in 2015 when I was 23 and she was 22. I told her I loved her five days in. I moved in three weeks later. We got married in her parents’ backyard at the height of COVID in 2020.
A few things worth knowing about who you’re working with:
Other Interests
Things that fascinate me, but that I typically don’t write about include…
I grew up in a praise band church and that didn’t click, so I explored most of the world’s traditions, plant medicine, and everything in between. But nothing has been as life-giving and compelling as the Jesus stories.
The reintroduction that Rob Bell, Richard Rohr, and Arthur Brooks gave me — changed my life.
I am a converted Catholic
I am a sports fanatic
I am a crazy Tottenham Hotspur, Texas Longhorns, and Baltimore sports fan.
The (rare) highs are high and the (every other weekend) lows are low.
It’s completely irrational, but it’s also love.
I started playing piano at 5 and got my first guitar at 12.
My all-time faves:
The Beatles (duh)
Grateful Dead
Father John Misty
Lyle Lovett
pre-2012 Kanye West
I am a music nerd
Alyssa and I love to take our dogs (Tennesse Jed and Scarlet Begonias) camping and hiking.
Our favorite national parks:
Sequoia (California)
Glacier (Montana)
Big Bend (Texas)
Shenandoah (Virginia)
Olympic (Washington)