"I worked with Mike for two years when I was in Boulder. Not only is he a very skilled, intelligent, and intuitive therapist, but he clearly cares deeply about his clients. This work truly matters to him. Mike created a trusting space where I felt safe to be vulnerable and open without fear of being judged. He is an exceptional listener and I can’t express how validating it was to always feel heard, especially when processing difficult emotions.

While validating my experience and my real feelings, Mike also challenged me when necessary. He brought attention to some of my maladaptive coping mechanisms and gave me the tools to identify them and gently catch myself when going down that path. For example, I often found myself
falling into a “victim mentality” mode, blaming other people or things for a circumstance I was in rather than taking personal accountability. Learning to take responsibility, rather than passing blame just to protect my ego, became a real source of empowerment for me and the resulting personal growth felt profound.

Another crucial component of my work with Mike was the family-oriented therapy that he implemented. Mike was very proactive in working with both my parents and myself on improving our family dynamic and thanks to our work together, I now share a much healthier relationship with my parents and we have become a lot closer.

I grew immensely during my time with Mike and I am eternally grateful to him and our time together"

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- Boulder Client

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"We consulted Mike Murphy after my son G. had been kicked out of a school for poor academic performance. At home he was showing a lot of disrespect and was at times verbally abusive with bouts of extreme anger. We had consulted three different psychologists and a psychiatrist but they had been unable to make much progress and had largely given up. G. tended to manipulate psychologists with the result that they became discouraged or even somewhat hostile. We had made no progress; we were looking for a mentor and counselor for our son when we found Mike.
 

 

Mike worked with G. for a year and a half, seeing him weekly. Over this period Mike had a major effect on G. with significant improvement in most of the behavioral issues that were causing us grave concern. Mike has a very calm and supportive demeanor and was the first person G. had related to. Most of G's manipulative tactics did not work with Mike and he began to open up. Mike managed to support G. and become his advocate while gradually getting G. to see how his behavior was counterproductive. G. liked Mike and had a lot of respect for him. On occasion we had to call Mike when G. went off the rails and his anger flared up. Mike was able to talk G. down by phone and avoid escalation. This reduced the domestic tension substantially as we were no longer fearful that escalation would culminate in the involvement of the authorities.
 

 

Mike successfully maintained G's confidentiality and trust while giving us, through periodic all-hands family meetings, a sense of how G. was reacting to him. Over the eighteen months that Mike met G. regularly, there was a significant improvement in G. across several fronts. He became an A student and eventually was accepted into a top tier university. We believe Mike's involvement was a significant factor in this change in G."
 

 

- Brookline, MA Family