Michael ("Mental Mike") is a recovery educator, counselor, and systems thinker with three decades of experience working at the intersection of addiction, trauma, violence, and human behavior. His work is grounded not in theory alone, but in sustained frontline engagement with individuals navigating substance use disorders, criminal justice involvement, domestic violence, and complex psychological injury.

Across his career, Michael has worked in residential treatment settings, correctional environments, community supervision, and higher education. He has taught hundreds of college-level courses, trained professionals, and supported individuals at every stage of recovery - from acute stabilization through long-term reintegration. This breadth of experience has shaped his central conviction: recovery fails most often not because people lack motivation, but because they are asked to change without being given a coherent understanding of what is happening within them.

Academically, Michael holds four Master's degrees and has completed extensive professional training across counseling, behavioral health, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed practice. His approach integrates neuroscience, depth psychology, and lived experience into structured educational frameworks designed for real-world application. Rather than offering abstract inspiration, his work emphasizes clarity, regulation, accountability, and sustainable change.

Michael is also a survivor of early relational trauma and family dysfunction, a reality he does not hide behind credentials. His understanding of addiction, shame, and emotional fragmentation is informed both professionally and personally. This dual perspective allows him to address recovery with directness and compassion, without moralizing or minimizing the difficulty of change.

Michael created the Unified Flux Model (UFM) and develops long-form recovery curricula, standalone educational texts, and licensed materials used by individuals, treatment programs, and community organizations. His work is especially valued by readers and professionals who are seeking depth, structure, and honesty in a field often dominated by oversimplification.