Giving men the place and means to express and heal their pain without creating more for others.

Men’s Center New England was established in 2019 but was a vision beginning in 2010 after attending my first 4-day retreat with the Men’s Center Los Angeles, whose founding credo is “Bring Good Men Together and Bring Out the Best in Them”.  At that first retreat atop a mountain in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean over one hundred good men gathered and among many other amazing moments, walked on hot coals as a symbolic conquering of their fears and self-limiting language and beliefs.  I went first and was enraptured.

With my heart racing and my feet still feeling the heat I immediately went to Dr. Stephen Johnson, the founder of Men’s Center Los Angeles, and my mentor and supervisor as a registered intern in Marriage and Family Therapy, and said “I want to be a leader.”  He replied, “You already are.”  After attending MCLA retreats for several years, and with Dr. Johnson’s blessing, I made it my intention to bring the good work to Massachusetts, where I was born and raised.  Every culture has a myth wherein the protagonist returns with “the holy grail” to his village.  Bringing the healing home.  This is my hope. 

While my passion and specialization is helping men and young men shed old ideas of what it means to be a man – ideas that are tired and toxic to both them and the people around them - I have been honored for over a decade to also work with women to recover from addiction, trauma, depression, co-dependency and communication issues to lead more fulfilling and healthy lives.  Many of my female clients over the years have expressed that having been wounded by women in their past they felt more comfortable working with a man, while others have said that working with a supportive and kind male therapist helped them heal pain caused by abusive relationships with men. 

Through individual therapy, group and couples counseling work with men and adolescent males and adult women it is my sincerest hope to bring the good work I studied in California to New England. Will you join me? 

Michael D. Lynch, LMFT