Matthew Thompson LPCC, LIMHP

It's pretty hard to do therapy "wrong." It's a very flexible thing, can look very different from one person to another, and can serve many different functions. In particular, I think many people believe therapy is only for those struggling with profound or exceptional sorrow or dysfunction, which simply isn't true. Some of the most transformative change I've seen in my work has been with clients who are financially secure, in stable relationships, and good physical health, but who struggle with figurative rocks in their metaphorical shoes that they just can't shake out.

Much of my work involves gender norms, especially those associated with masculinity, and the limitations they put on how people feel they are allowed to present to the world. As the broader cultural conversation in America is more often challenging previous norms and expectations, I see many men struggling to balance between more progressive and forward-thinking redefinition of masculinity against their prior learned beliefs and values, often as modeled by fathers, brothers, and male mentors of earlier generations. My work often involves helping these men find space in themselves to embrace previously-believed "unmanly" aspects of themselves without abandoning the aspects of masculinity they have found valuable and affirming.

Like an Oreo, I like to work from the outside in, meaning we focus on what is presently happening in the client's life that feels difficult or problematic, as well as look to the theoretical end of treatment and how the client will recognize having experienced the change or growth they find satisfying, and then work both backwards and forward to determine what the map looks like between.

• Minnesota, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, 2226
• Nebraska, Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner, 3440

I started work in the mental health world during graduate school, co-facilitating a rehabilitative group program for male perpetrators of domestic abuse, team taught a skills development group for high school students with emotional and behavioral difficulties, and provided individual counseling at Walk-In Counseling Center. After graduation, I worked for three years with adults diagnosed with serious & persistent mental illness in residential treatment--essentially a step-down transition from inpatient hospital care--and then worked for eighteen months in a community mental health clinic, counseling clients dealing with socioeconomic stressors including poverty, insecure housing, and involvement with the criminal justice system. Since 2021 I have been in private practice, counseling men and women through life transitions, relationship difficulties, and coping with depression, anxiety, and grief.