Anchor of Hope Counseling

10/03/2025

"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true, because we have dreamed too little when we arrive safely, because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when the abundance of things we possess have caused us to lose our thirst for the waters of life and to fall in love with life. We have ceased to dream of eternity, and in our efforts started to build a new Earth. We have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly to venture on wider seas, when storms will show your majesty when losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes, and to push us ahead in future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen.

-Sir Francis Drake

05/09/2025

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." -Howard Thurman

03/13/2025

"We cannot control a relationship. We can only contribute to a relationship. All relationships, business or personal, are an opportunity to serve another human being."
Simon Sinek

02/06/2025

😂

10/09/2024

When AOH first launched, I used to think I might want to have a bunch of employees. Then, as I took time to reflect on the best path forward God told me to slow my role, and just rest and wait.

Well, it is now time to add my all time favorite person as our first (and maybe last) employee haha😂. I could not be more excited for her and all the work she has put in to make it to this place. If you are looking for a counselor who works with trauma and attachment, grief & loss, betrayal, or pregnancy/perinatal counseling look no further!

Welcome to the team, Amanda! 😉

(Click on link below to be directed to her bio)*

Anchor of Hope provides therapy and counseling in West Michigan's city of Holland, specializing in Depression & Anxiety, Counseling Teens & Young Adults, Spiritual Direction & Guidance, Po*******hy Addiction and Post Adoption Counseling.

04/03/2024

Really fascinating report showing that here in the U.S. mental well-being remained at its post-pandemic low with yet again no sign of movement towards pre-pandemic levels :(

Be kind to each other out there; you never know what someone else might be facing.

The Mental State of the World Report is an annual publication that provides insight into the evolving mental wellbeing of the world

03/25/2024

Warning: This video might make you tear up...

I post this because I think it speaks well to tension of what many of the adoptees I meet with feel in regards to living with their adoptive parents, yet having birth parents they yearn to know, and also love deeply.

The final Platinum Ticket of Season 7 has been awarded! Julia Gagnon blew the judges away covering an Aretha Franklin classic. She recently found her birth m...

11/10/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovb3coCqycs

10/19/2023

This was written by a friend of mine and I think many of you might find this to be quite helpful :)

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Last fall I found myself in a space I’d not ever been in before... maybe you did too. With 2020 and all that it brought, we also added a new 3yr old to our fam oh and a crazy puppy. 🤪 We navigated so much new last year that by time November hit- I had hit a wall too. Overwhelmed, frustrated, exhausted, and apathetic to things I shouldn’t be apathetic to. Anyone else?
After multiple recommendations from a dear dear friend, I finally agreed to go to counseling. I was never against counseling, I just never really thought I “needed” to go. Now I only wish I would’ve gone much sooner. ❤️
I want to share one of my biggest take aways. Something so simple, that changed my life. ❤️
The plates.
My precious therapist told me about how our lives are like plates. Our plates hold our “things,” our “yesses,” our “obligations.”
She told me that in some seasons our plates need to be saucers. Other seasons they can be a salad plate, and sometimes even a dinner plate.
And she told me that I needed to be a saucer. 😭
I cannot tell you the weight lifted when she said that. That it wasn’t my decision. I didn’t have to choose to say no to things or people. It was just a fact my plate couldn’t hold it all... no matter how much I wanted it.
So, I went through a season of several months where I only made space for Jesus, my family, my house and my job. That meant no extra volunteering, no weekly play dates or coffee dates, no to even working out or cooking fancy meals or doing extra with my YL biz. It felt a bit like survival mode, and it was, but it was also healing. ❤️
I realized my friends still loved me despite my striving to meet their every request to hang out. I realized I can feed my family tacos and cheese & crackers with grapes, or quesadillas with apples, or PBJ or cereal and they are actually fine. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I realized I can and actually enjoy a lighter and more empty calendar. I learned how to get up early and enjoy the quiet mornings. I learned how to be still with my journal and Jesus and nothing else.
Slowly I can feel myself feeling able to graduate to a salad plate. Remembering that a salad plate is just that... a little bigger-but made for a heathy meal. So I can look around and selectively choose what to put on my salad plate. Knowing that still, my plate is small, and only has room for nutritional (life giving) things. Things that fuel me, push me closer to Jesus, and stir up joy. I know at anytime I may need to revert back to my simple saucer... and that is okay. And that dinner plate... well I’m not so sure that’s good portion size ever again for any of us. 😆
So, if you got pushed to the side while I’ve been living the saucer life... thanks for understanding. I won’t apologize, though I’m tempted to. But I know it’s not needed and it wouldn’t be sincere. Because living the saucer life was the best yes I have said in so many many years... and I would do it again in a heartbeat. ❤️
And ps... go to counseling. Just do it. You need it. We all do.

06/15/2023

Well, today marks 8 years since AOH was launched! 8 years! It is hard to believe really. I remember when it all started hearing a voice of influence in my life tell me, “Matt, I think you should do something ‘bigger,’ I think you were intended to do more than just private practice.” At times, it has been hard to get that critical voice out of my head. There have been so many times this work has pushed me to the brink of myself. To the brink of exhaustion. Yet, I have felt so alive being able to sit with others in the depth of their pain, and aim to bring healing to these deep and dark places. It would be difficult to imagine doing any other work really. I have learned so much about the world, and myself through this work, and my clients.

It can be hard not to listen to these dissenting voices in our head, or the critics in our life. Yet, it’s so important to go for our dreams. This life is short, and we only get one chance at it. Do not hesitate to pursue your desires, your hopes, and your dreams. And do not let anyone (your voice or others tell you can’t do it, the dream is stupid, or it’s too late), because one thing is for sure- you will never regret it!

05/26/2023

Here is my latest blog on parenting, and specifically parenting kids from hard places. Hope you enjoy! :)

Anchor of Hope provides therapy and counseling in West Michigan's city of Holland, specializing in Depression & Anxiety, Counseling Teens & Young Adults, Spiritual Direction & Guidance, Po*******hy Addiction and Post Adoption Counseling.

09/08/2022

"Autumn holds the place between the richness of summer and the scarcity of winter, between leisurely hours and the return to routine, between sun soaked skin and the warmth of new layers. As fall unfolds at its own tempo, we are reminded that change needs ease, that progress has its purpose, that grace only knows to flow forward. My theme this season is fortitude. I was surprised as I interviewed others that they often thought fortitude was a trait reserved for only a select few. Yes, fortitude has been hard won by some who have endured extreme situations that required deep courage of the soul. But can't fortitude also be forged in the moments that are more common? The kid who falls off their bike the first few tries but then finds the strength to ride again? The women who wants the job so badly that even after being told no she still finds a way to get her resume in the door. The man who sits on the tractor in the blazing heat and then, in a few months time, has a crop to show for it.

Fortitude often isn't earned in a day but in the steady resolve to learn from that which grows us. The extraordinary part? We rarely notice it until we need it. Like a tree that's small but has deep roots, our strength is often only shown when circumstances attempt to uproot us: That's when our ability to stay grounded, be centered, and weather the storm proved how much fortitude has been quietly growing just beneath the surface."
-Joanna Gaines

Friend, you are stronger than you think!