Mike Yow MA, LCAS
About Us
Mahala Motzny LCMHC, LCAS
We all have the inherent ability to offer ourselves healing and growth – sometimes we just need help finding it. Many times, self-defeating patterns (from addiction to depression to the impact of trauma) have been in the way of sustaining change and creating the life you want. These patterns may have been a way to survive in painful relationships and circumstances that were beyond your control. These old ways of surviving aren’t working or needed anymore, and we need help “unlearning” them. It is common (and frustrating!) to have great insight into your patterns but still find yourself doing the same things. I want to help you create the change that you want to see in your life. Therapy is hard work, but it is also transformative, connecting, and even funny sometimes. While I believe in being compassionate and straightforward, humor can also be tremendously healing. I look forward to working with you.
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I have been a therapist for 20 years and earned my Master's in Counseling from UNC-Greensboro. I have worked in a variety of settings including community-based, outpatient practices and residential treatment. Currently, I work with adults who have a variety of concerns including anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorder, trauma, relationship and parenting issues, as well as grief and loss. I also work with people who are struggling with substance use (and other addictions), including adult children, parents, and/or family members of addicted persons. I have specialty training in EMDR, Brainspotting, dual-diagnosis treatment, Psychodrama and the Externalization work of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, as well as a variety of other cognitive-based treatment approaches in my practice.
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When I am not at work, I enjoy hiking, yoga, paddle boarding, watching hockey, and traveling. The time I spend with family, friends, and my dog (Clover) is the best medicine.
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Mahala will see clients in the Winston-Salem office.
Mike Yow LCAS
Being seen. Being heard. Knowing someone is present with you in the darkness and the light. Knowing you are not alone. Having someone be present with you. I think these are meaningful experiences we all desire and deserve. Through the years I have made great effort to be able to provide this in therapeutic relationships and I am excited to be able to continue this work after my retirement as the President/CEO of Fellowship Hall in Greensboro, NC.
Most of my work during my 35-year career has been in residential treatment settings and long-term inpatient treatment working with clients with extensive trauma, grief and return to use histories. I also have experience in out-patient settings as well. I have extensive training and experience working with people struggling with substance use issues, people who have co-occurring disorders, family of origin issues, unresolved grief and trauma issues and people who are “stuck” or stagnant in their own recovery process. I also have a great deal of experience working with people in life transitions. I believe there is good to be found in all of us. I believe we all have a story to tell and, in those stories, we can find healing. I believe in the power of humor, compassion, love, gratitude and patience.
I hold a BA with a major in Religion/Philosophy and a minor in psychology from Greensboro College, a MA in Liberal Studies from UNCG and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management from UNCG. I am a graduate of Leadership Greensboro and the Executive Directors Academy through the Guilford County Nonprofit Consortium. I have had extensive training in the use of psychodrama. I am a trained grief facilitator in the Elisabeth Kubler-Ross externalization process and have helped lead grief/trauma workshops with a nonprofit called edgebrook since 1993. I am trained in the use of EMDR. I am a US Navy veteran, honorably discharged in 1981.
Outside of work you will find me in my yard and various flower beds. I am an avid reader, I love to play golf and ride my motorcycle. I enjoy cooking and my wife and I love to travel and consider ourselves amateur “foodies.”
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Mike sees clients in the Greensboro office.
