Dr. Michael Tilus

Some pain doesn't get easier with time. It just gets more familiar.

I work with people who have been carrying something heavy for a long time: survivors of childhood neglect and trauma, people navigating the aftermath of sexual, physical, emotional, or religious violence, and those whose sense of self has been fractured by relational or spiritual betrayal. I also work with Veterans living with PTSD, depression, and substance use, and with thoughtful professionals seeking deep, ongoing therapy to work through disrupted beliefs or a life that has lost its meaning. My practice is open to people across the full lifespan, including children and adolescents.

Our work draws on psychoanalytic and trauma informed frameworks, but the way it actually unfolds is deeply collaborative and personal. I pay close attention to the connections between your emotional life, your body, your relationship history, and your cultural, spiritual, or religious world. When medical factors are part of the picture, I coordinate closely with your primary care physician. Together we trace the patterns that keep showing up across your relationships and your life, building a deeper understanding of what has shaped you and what you want to carry forward. Progress is rarely dramatic. Small, hard won moments of change matter, and they deserve to be named. I call them "Gracelets."

Our first sessions are unhurried. I want to hear your story in your own words, and together we will get a feel for how we fit as a working pair. There is room here for all of it: the sadness, the anger, the anxiety, the confusion, the flatness, the despair. You do not need to arrive composed or certain. Whatever you are carrying when you show up is exactly where we begin. Come as you are. If any of this resonates, I hope you will reach out.