“You are allowed to be a masterpiece and a work in progress, simultaneously.” Sophie Bush
Meet Michael Holker, HBA, BSW, MSW, Registered Social Worker |
Psychotherapist
I know what it feels like to move through the world carrying a weight of misunderstanding. For many years, I lived under misdiagnoses and masked my differences in order to fit expectations. Like many of my clients, I felt the pressure to strive harder, to meet standards that left me drained, and to pretend everything was fine even when it wasn’t. That disconnect—between who I truly was and who I thought I had to be—was exhausting.
Discovering my own neurodivergence later in life was a turning point. It was not a quick or easy process. It brought grief for the years I spent misunderstanding myself, but also relief in finally having language for my experience. It gave me permission to step away from the “shoulds” that had defined so much of my life and to begin cultivating a more authentic way of being. That journey shapes not only how I live, but also how I practice therapy.
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” - Carl Gustav Jung
A Blend of Personal and Professional Experience: 15 Years in Mental Health
As a neurodiversity-affirming therapist, I believe that growth often begins with feeling understood. My own story as a late-diagnosed neurodivergent person means I can appreciate the unique barriers that many of my clients face: chronic invalidation, sensory differences, difficulty with transitions, or the social strain of masking. I also know how isolating it can feel when those experiences are dismissed or minimized.
Therapy, at its best, may provide space to explore those challenges safely. It is not about erasing difference, but about understanding yourself more deeply, experimenting with strategies that support you, and developing compassion for the parts of yourself that have struggled to survive in an often-demanding world.
Education and Training:
- Honour Bachelor of Arts (HBA) from the University of Toronto
- Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from Dalhousie University
- Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Windsor
- Registered Social Worker (RSW) with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers
My training includes work with a range of therapeutic approaches, including:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI),IFS-informed and polyvagal practices.
This professional training is grounded in a neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, client-centred, strengths-based, humanistic, and existential foundation. Together, these perspectives inform the way I approach therapy: collaboratively, respectfully, and attentive to the whole of your experience.
Professional training provides me with tools, but it is my lived experience that deepens my empathy. Both are central to the way I work with clients.
Beyond formal training, I continually study topics that deepen my understanding of the human experience, neurodivergence, psychology, sociology, and the ways we find meaning in our lives.
"Know all the theories, master all the techniques, but as you touch a human soul be just another human soul. " - C.G. Jung
I provide virtual counselling across Ontario
