Who is Matt?
Matt is the Director of MGA Counselling Services and provides individual, couple, family, and group counselling. He is also the founder of Forest Therapy Victoria. Matt has a special interest in relationship counselling, grief, trauma, abuse recovery, high sensitivity, and spirituality. Matt provides professional and personal development courses on a range of topics and speaks regularly at conferences and in the media on sexuality and mental health.
Aside from his counselling work, Matt also freelances as a cartoonist and illustrator. He is the author and illustrator of the Shapes, Lines and Dots: Creativity and Wellbeing for Kids series of books, plus regularly does commissions for corporate and community clients.
My Thoughts
We are back for round 2 with Matt. He just had way too much to say to not do a 2-part conversation. Matt always offers such value and this episode is no different. He talks about deconstruction and healing in a real and hopeful way.
Episode Summary
- Matt shares what the deconstruction journey looks like for an ex-Pastor; and how his inner sense of spirituality remained.
- Matt explains the disillusionment around his calling originally as being a Pastor and how it shifted into caring for people.
- We explore the grief that occurs when you lose 90% of your community and are met with silence.
- We call out the cliché around ‘time healing all wounds’. Matt shares how he felt that he had a taste of what the Queer community faces.
- Matt shares about the role of therapy and how he came to the realisation of the possibility of becoming a counsellor.
- We discuss how his training, equipped him to seeing the role of helper in a different and more whole capacity.
- I ask Matt how other people’s view of who he was impacted his view of self and what a humbling experience it was.
- Matt shares about the pain around the harm that was caused while he was the Pastor of the church.
- I ask Matt about the role of nature in his healing and his deconstruction; how it had always remained.
- Matt talks about the unexpected role that art and drawing played in his healing and redefining who he was in the world.
- Finally, Matt answers the questions “What do you want to say to the church?” and “Where do you see the church going in the next 10 years”
Links
- For more information on Matt’s creative ventures head to – http://mattglover.com
- To connect with Matt about his practice head to https://mgacounselling.com.au/
- To connect over on Instagram – @matt.r.glover
- To connect with Sam on Instagram – @anchoredcounsellingservices
- Want to contact with Sam about the podcast or therapy? Use this contact form.