About Michael Rivera, LPC
Therapy for people who carry a lot
Many of the people I work with are intelligent, capable, and accustomed to being the person others depend on. They may be physicians, attorneys, executives, engineers, professors, entrepreneurs, or other professionals who function well while privately carrying anxiety, exhaustion, relationship strain, sadness, or questions about meaning.
Therapy gives you a place to stop performing. We can slow the situation down, understand what is happening beneath the surface, and make room for a more honest way of living.
Our conversations are thoughtful and direct. We may examine present pressures, longstanding patterns, formative relationships, inner conflicts, or the gap between the life you built and the life you now want. The work is collaborative: you bring your experience, and I bring sustained attention, clinical perspective, and more than two decades of counseling experience.
Experience that informs the work
I have worked as a Licensed Professional Counselor since 2005 and previously served for ten years as a university professor. My professional life has included counseling, teaching, ministry, music, leadership, and extensive work with interpersonal conflict and emotional development.
Education and professional background
- Bachelor’s degree in Sacred Music and Theology, Southeastern University
- Seminary study at McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University
- Master’s degree in Counseling, Mercer University
- Licensed Professional Counselor since 2005
- Former Mercer University professor for ten years
- More than two decades of clinical counseling experience
- Advanced training in interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, psychodynamic psychotherapy, humanistic and existential approaches, CBT, and DBT
How I work
I am especially interested in the emotional and developmental patterns that shape how people work, love, lead, cope, and understand themselves. Insight matters, but insight becomes most valuable when it creates greater freedom in your decisions, relationships, and daily life.
I bring curiosity, warmth, humor, and directness to the room. Faith and Christian spirituality can be included when they matter to you; they do not have to be part of the work.
Online throughout four states
My practice is virtual-only, with confidential video or phone sessions for clients located in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Vermont.
Schedule a Free 15-Minute Consultation
Call, text, or email today to schedule your free 15-minute consultation.