About Michael

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Hi, I’m Michael. I work at the intersection of psychology, philosophy, and what I call Lifestyle Ecology™.

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I started in philosophy, drawn to the big, unruly questions about meaning, ethics, and how we should live. That curiosity eventually carried me into clinical psychology, where those questions stopped being abstract and became painfully real in people’s lives. My doctoral work explored how desire, culture, and identity intertwine—how we use things like food, fashion, and ritual to communicate who we are and what we long for, often without knowing we’re doing it.

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Over the years, I’ve studied many traditions—psychoanalytic, existential, ecological, trauma-informed, nutritional, somatic, contemplative. I’ve taught philosophy and psychology, practiced yoga, explored plant-based cooking, and spent a lot of time trying to understand why simple daily habits can be so hard to change, even when we “know better.”

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I was born in former Czechoslovakia, defected as a teenager, and eventually made my way to the United States. Those experiences taught me something about dislocation, identity, and resilience; they also shaped my understanding that no human life exists outside its environment—ecological, cultural, historical, or relational.

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Today, my work is less about fixing people and more about creating a space where your body, your story, and your values can finally speak to one another. I don’t promise transformation. I promise attention, honesty, and small, sustainable experiments in the art of living.