The Journey

It didnt take long teaching to confirm for Michael that he loved working with children and their parents. Over time though, it became evident that correcting papers and planning elaborate social studies units were not what he found so satisfying about working with them, but rather the developing of relationships that supported them, and guiding them to solve their own problems. It was helping the child having trouble on the playground, or helping a parent to more effectively support a child struggling in school. He became increasingly fascinated with what motivates children and what helps them to flourish. In the process, he came to a deeper realization that many of the key variables influencing how kids do in school have much to do with how well their families are doing. If you want to help kids to do well, you cant avoid the importance of working with their families.

His interests and his knowledge of how important families are to the success of children led to his speaking, along with his school principal, to psychology classes at PCC about effective parenting strategies. He found teaching adults fun and challenging in a new way. Soon Michael and his principal had created their own parenting course based on curriculum they'd jointly developed. As Michael continued his journey of working with families he was able to design and direct a program for helping K-6 children having behavioral difficulties in the classroom to make a successful return to class. He also had the opportunity to work with Spanish speaking children in Hillsboro Migrant Summer School program. After his graduate work at Lewis & Clark in Counseling Psychology, Michael worked as an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant with Morrison Child and Family Services.

Looking Back

Today, Michael has his own spirited eight-year-old daughter. She ensures that any strategies and principles he talks with parents and teachers about have been thoroughly field tested by an independent minded child. Michael is grateful for his experiences that enable him to help parents to set reasonable and effective limits in loving ways,  and help families move away from power struggles and arguing toward mutually respectful relationships where they can enjoy one another a lot more. Michael knows how fortunate he is to be able to do work that he truly loves. Looking back, all his experience seemed to lead naturally to where he is today.