Michael Freeman, PhD, LPC, CHt

He is a member of the American Counseling Association, Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia, The Society for the Integration of Spirituality and Psychotherapy, and The Association for Clinical Close Encounter Therapists.

Michael has experience counseling individuals in a variety of settings such as hospice, elderly care facilities, community agencies, and private practice. In those settings, Michael has worked with such concerns as anxiety, depression, grief, and trauma. He also specializes in the integration of spiritually transformative experiences, such as Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs), and other types of Spiritual Awakenings.

In addition, he is certified in Clinical Hypnotherapy and sometimes employs this as an aid in the healing process of spiritual transformation. He also works with those who identify as Highly Sensitive, Intuitive, and/ or Introverted and some of the challenges this presents in navigating everyday life.

Approach:
Michael utilizes a variety of therapeutic approaches with clients, but all of them are on a similar continuum, and they are Holistic, Integrative, Humanistic-Existential, and Transpersonal. A Holistic approach to therapy treats the “whole person” and incorporates the mind, body, and spirit as one.

Integrative Therapy is an extension of the holistic model in that it aims to promote healing and facilitate wholeness ensuring that all levels of a person’s being and functioning are maximized to their fullest potential. Techniques such as meditation, yoga, guided imagery, breath work, and relaxation are introduced and encouraged for healthy balance and alignment.

Humanistic-Existential Therapy emphasizes self-inquiry, reflection, personal responsibility and freedom. The goal of this therapy is to help clients free themselves from self-imposed limitations and become more authentic by living life with passion and a sense of purpose and meaning.

Transpersonal Therapy focuses on a client’s highest potential and the recognition and understanding of spiritual and transcendent states of consciousness such as peak and mystical experiences. The primary focus here is to provide validation to clients that have one of these life-changing, other worldly experiences (such as a NDE) in an environment that is safe and non-judgmental to allow for greater processing and integration.

Due to the often dramatic changes that occur as a result of these experiences, the aim is to provide helpful strategies to cope with daily life, manage difficulties with work/career and relationships, and examine changes to one’s religion and/or spirituality.