Joshua Twiest

I've been a listener my whole life — since I was a teenager, long before I had any clinical training, I learned that the most powerful thing one person can do for another is to genuinely pay attention. That hasn't changed. What has changed is that now I have the tools, training, and experience to help that attention lead somewhere. I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor based in Michigan. I work with individuals, families, couples, and children — and I see clients across the state through telehealth. I'm trained in a range of approaches including CBT, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and Bowen Family Systems, which means I can adapt to what actually fits you — not just apply a template. I'm also comfortable holding faith and spirituality as part of your story if that's relevant for you. I'm not a "Christian therapist" in a prescriptive sense, but I've spent years working as a chaplain and I understand how much a person's spiritual framework shapes how they see themselves and the world. That's a welcome part of the conversation here.

My job isn't to tell you what to do. It's to help you see clearly enough that you can figure that out yourself — and to walk next to you while you do. I draw on a mix of approaches depending on what you're working through. For families and couples, I often use Bowen Family Systems thinking to understand how patterns get passed down and where they can shift. For anxiety, ADHD, and intrusive thoughts, I lean on CBT and solution-focused approaches that are practical and concrete. For trauma, I use narrative and experiential methods that don't require you to relive things in clinical detail — just to start telling your story in a way that gives you more room. I also use creativity — movement, art, play — when it's useful. Not because every session becomes art therapy, but because sometimes the body knows things the words haven't caught up with yet. I try to be curious more than prescriptive, and inquisitive more than directive.

Expect a real conversation, not an intake form read back to you. I'll ask questions, but not in a way that feels like a checklist. The first session is mostly about understanding what's brought you here and what you're hoping for — and making sure you leave feeling like you were actually heard. There's no pressure to have everything figured out before you arrive. Some people come in knowing exactly what they want to work on. Others come in knowing something isn't working but not quite sure what. Both are fine starting points. You'll also leave with a sense of who I am and how I work — so you can decide if this feels like the right fit. I'd rather you find the right therapist than feel obligated to stick with the first one you tried.