Having Michael as a coach was a breath of fresh air. As a gay man there are certain nuances and issues that are very specific to our culture. Michael understands this fully and offers a safe space to share your experiences and unpack the emotional cargo we so often carry with us everywhere we go. I appreciate that his coaching is action oriented - he holds you accountable for the work you commit to doing in your personal development journey. His podcast and email newsletter are also great resources.

WooHooo!!! Where do I start!?

I have been speaking with Michael as my gay life coach for several months now as … More

WooHooo!!! Where do I start!? I have been speaking with Michael as my gay life coach for several months now as I honestly say that he was a breath of fresh air I really needed in a time of great social distress in my life living a single gay man. I initially discovered him from his Gay podcast called “Gay Men Going Deeper” on Youtube and I’ve decided to seek him out for 1 on 1 counseling because I found it hard to find a gay life couch in my local area and felt that he and I have had some similar experiences that he could help me out with as I was struggling to maintain strong connections with other gay men in the community. I’ve started working Michael for 10 sessions and he felt very familiar as if it was like catching up with good friend that often checks in on you to see how you are doing from one session to the next. When speaking with him, he made me feel very comfortable when talking to him about my issues with connection. When going to later sessions, Michael will always begin our session on a positive note first asking about your current wins in life mainly to keep in mind of your progress before discussing with any new issues that you are dealing with. So with that in mind, Michael is really flexible with being adaptable to clients needs when to making them feel comfortable with their share with empathy and without judgement. Another good thing about Michael’s approach to coaching as he listens your story is that he takes good notes to help keep you on track with where you want to be after coaching with him. Even if he has to respectfully call you out on your own S***! LOL! He also will do a review with you at the end of the session for any key takeaways you’ve learned along with homework which often helped me with dealing with some of the struggles I was going through to face them head on. I REALLY appreciated him for this! Coaching with Michael allowed me to further see my own crap and how some of my behavior patterns caused me to lose connection with others, whether it be friends to potential romantic connections. Personally I knew some of these issues were already there but it helps to have someone show you your problems without being malicious with your words. Working with him I was able to work up the courage to reconnect with a good friend that I pushed away due to preceivied negative feelings from events that occurred last year. Michael taught me the differences between Facts vs. Feelings and how it often does not serve you if react off your feelings without getting the all the facts of a situation. Also working him allowed me to realize what I need to do to go out into social spaces and be in the moment without judgement so soon after arriving. I came into coaching with him very guarded emotionally so speaking with him helped me find other ways to connect and deal with certain scenarios than may appear uncomfortable to me at first. I can honestly say since working with Michael I am bit more confident and self-aware with myself in social spaces like gay bars, and doing my best to change my way of thinking based my past negative experiences. Mind you, I am still a work in progress so I have my slip-ups but it’s a lot better than it way before. My emotional shields more down when I am around other people and I am learning to be more socially present while brushing off the unpleasant experiences others may put on me. Also, he’s made me realize despite my mistakes with pushing away the connections that I have lost over time, that those connection don’t define me for the overall good person that I know I can be and there are people out there that see that and still stick with me. Overall, one of the benefits having him coaching me was just simply to be an ear for me and listen to my issues but also call me out on my bullshit with professionalism and care. He comes highly recommended from me.