I came into counseling feeling that "everything is about relationships." I believe that people have the ability to heal themselves. Sometimes they need support. Sometimes they need to need to use new tools. I have an open minded outlook. This is most likely because of my artistic tendencies and from my life experiences. My therapeutic modalities center around a client centered approach. I see myself as someone who sets up the conditions for clients to heal themselves. What I try to do is to see what the clients don't see themselves.Â
I worked for two years in a mental health clinic in South Central Colorado. I have been many things in my life: soldier, home-care nurse, school van driver, janitor, a carpenter building sets for college theatre, an advisor helping high school students prepare for ACT and SAT exams, homemaker. I have been introverted for most of my life, but learned how to express myself and reach out to people more in recent years. It's hard to articulate such a thing, being "bigger on the inside" and having gained new skills to speak to the experience. In various ways, I struggled with my identity. Unexpectedly, this has been useful. I often found myself with clients who come in with the full knowledge that something is wrong with their lives, but don't have words for their experiences. They also tend to struggle with a sense of who they are and what they want from life.Â
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I originally came from Pueblo, Colorado but moved to Alamosa to study at Adams State University. I began my studies with art and psycholgy, and later turned to counseling to make use of my skills in both of those areas. I have been dissatisfied with the disease model for some time. While there are certainly more than two kinds of people in the world, I have heard it said that some people prefer a confort mindset and others prefer a growth mindset. Mental health is more than getting through the latest disaster but striving towards the best life possible.
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I’m Michael Benavidez, a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate providing telehealth therapy to teens and adults throughout Colorado. As both a veteran and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I understand how identity, life experience, belonging, and resilience can intersect. My goal is to offer a spacewhere you feel respected, understood, and supported-not judged or reduced to a diagnosis.