Brian Majszak
(he/him)
Greetings! My name is Brian. After years working primarily with individuals who were court-ordered to chat with me, I've just recently started my own practice to spread my wings and talk with folks eager to improve their situations without quite so much external motivation. Some background information about me if you're interested: I attained my Masters in Clinical Social Work degree from Ferris State University and graduated with the highest honors. I've worked in housing and with those experiencing homelessness. I've worked with children in foster care and with the parents trying to get them back into their care. I've worked with teens and older adults and every age between, both individually and in groups. I've helped educate about substance use, adjust from violence and trauma, cope with depression and anxiety, and develop time-management and stress-management skills, among others. I'm proud of what I've accomplished thus far, but what can I say? I want to do more!
Get to know me
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
A warm greeting. A genuine hope to learn about you, gain an understanding of what you're hoping to accomplish, and begin working on how that might be accomplished. By the end of our first session, I hope to have addressed any questions or concerns, and given you a taste of what you can expect from this wild, colorful, caring Therapist.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
I'll be the first to tell you, there are more intelligent, more professional, and more experienced therapists out there. What I offer is genuine care and concern, and an honest interest in helping you weather whatever storm you are in. One of my most memorable trainings I participated in showed with statistics that the specific program, approach, or intervention is basically insignificant if you don't have a therapeutic relationship and rapport built. My focus is to always be real and trust that if I'm saying it, it's not engineered, it's not fabricated. It's real.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
My number one goal is to be genuine. I promise to always be real, direct, and focused on finding improvement and strengthening what's already within you to overcome obstacles. I like to laugh and hope to bring about a smile every time we talk. I promise to have an open ear and an open mind. My ideal client believes their situation can be improved and is willing to take potentially unconventional approaches to get there. I believe in you and your own strengths and abilities. I believe in my ability to help you see them, too. Come be real with me. I won't let you down. Through a collaborative approach, I hope to learn about you. Your circumstances and history. Your challenges and past attempts, either successful or otherwise, to overcome those obstacles. These help me get a sense of what's going on. From there, I approach it tactically. It's a puzzle. Once we find the pieces, we can put them all together.
Specialties
Top specialtiesAddiction
Grief
Trauma and PTSD
Career Counseling
Coping Skills
Foster Care/Adoption
I identify as
Man
White
Serves ages
Adults (18 to 64)
Teenagers (13 to 17)
Licensed in
Michigan
Accepts
Aetna
Location
Virtual
My treatment methods
Motivational Interviewing
This has been my bread and butter for a while now. In working with substance use/abuse/addiction, pretty much from day one my peers and supervisors suggested I focus on that first. I appreciate how it emphasizes the importance of YOUR goals rather than my hope for you. This makes it possible for me to accept that I will never know you better than you do. You are the expert of you, and in my experience many therapists will suggest the opposite and that never felt right to me. This allows me to find your goals and broaden any ambivalence you have, with hopes of resolving it and moving forward!
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT has been one of the leading approaches. I appreciate how it explores potentially faulty thinking and with practice, allows you to adjust your thoughts before they manifest in behaviors and cause potential consequences. I appreciate CBT because it aims to be on the quicker end of therapy options, saving you time, energy, and money and producing results in a semi-rapid fashion.
Group Therapy
As an MSW Intern, I was facilitating group therapy a fair bit of time before I started working with folks individually. To some extent, I feel more comfortable leading groups and it gives you the opportunity to learn from me as well as the other members in the group, as well as working on social skills and communication. Wins all around, in my opinion.
Trauma Informed Care
With my initial goal of working with Veterans like myself, anything related to trauma was my focus, if not my obsession. I'll admit, it helped me figure some things out about myself, and I am uniquely qualified to approach trauma in therapy, as I am well versed in it professionally and personally, as result of my experiences in combat operations. This is one of my most passionate areas to work in as a therapist, and very prevalent.
Strength-Based
This is one of my favorite skills taught relatively early in my studies as a Clinical Social Worker. It lines up perfectly with my goal of unleashing your strengths, including those you are familiar with and those you may not be. I admit, it may be uncomfortable for you, but I will celebrate your strengths, even if you will not. I want you to recognize how badass you are. You've made it through life this far, and I liken therapy to the minute a Boxer has in between rounds: a time to reflect, recover, and learn how best to win this fight.