Michael Ross, LCSW | Cognitive Alchemist
Empowering Minds | Building Resilience | Transforming Lives
About Me
Hello! I’m Michael Ross, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and nationally recognized thought leader in behavioral health. I specialize in helping people transmute their struggles into strength and reclaim their agency through cognitive alchemy—the science of transforming thought patterns to create meaningful change.
My mission: To help you build resilience, enhance self-efficacy, and rewrite your narrative so that you can live with greater clarity, confidence, and control.
My Approach: Pragmatic, Strengths-Based, and Tailored to You
I take an eclectic, evidence-guided approach to therapy, ensuring that each session is tailored to your unique needs, strengths, and goals.
✅ Client-Centered: You are the expert of your own life—I’m here to guide, support, and challenge you.
✅ Narrative & Existential Therapy: Together, we explore and reshape the story you tell yourself about your life.
✅ Cognitive Alchemy: I help you transform adversity into personal power.
✅ Psychological Resilience Training: I teach actionable techniques to strengthen distress tolerance, self-efficacy, and cognitive reframing.
I am heavily influenced by Albert Bandura’s work on self-efficacy—helping you break free from limiting beliefs and take back control of your thoughts, emotions, and actions.
My Unique Offerings
Author of Too Weird to Fail: The Righthand Path of the Sacred Laugh – A powerful exploration of humor, cognitive resilience, and transformation.
Creator of the Too Weird to Fail Therapy Workbook – A structured guide to help you reframe your mindset and regain your agency.
Blending Science with Real-World Application – I bridge clinical expertise with pragmatic solutions that actually work in your daily life.
Who I Work With
I provide tele-mental health services to a diverse range of individuals, couples, and professionals, including:
✔️ High-Stress Professions: Advanced experience working with military, law enforcement, intelligence, and public safety professionals.
✔️ Those Navigating Trauma & Toxic Stress: Helping you rebuild strength, meaning, and purpose.
✔️ Professionals Seeking High-Performance Mindset Coaching: Learn to enhance focus, decision-making, and stress management.
✔️ Anyone Ready to Take Control of Their Life: If you feel stuck, lost, or overwhelmed, I help you create actionable strategies for change.
My Clinical Expertise
I am trained and experienced in:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – Rewiring thought patterns that hold you back
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) – Building mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) – Overcoming trauma through cognitive restructuring
Narrative Therapy – Rewriting your personal story to cultivate meaning
Existential Therapy – Addressing deep life questions and finding purpose
Psychological First Aid & Crisis Counseling – Immediate support for high-stress situations
Mindfulness-Based Techniques – Strengthening awareness and emotional balance
I also have advanced training in psychological resilience, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed care.
Education & Credentials
Ph.D. in Social Cognitive Psychology (in progress) – Liberty University
Graduate Certificate in Homeland Security & Emergency Management – Indiana University
Master of Social Work (MSW) – Indiana University School of Social Work
B.A. in Religious Studies & Psychology – Indiana University, Bloomington
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) – Indiana
Why Work With Me?
✅ I make therapy practical. I provide real-world solutions that you can apply immediately.
✅ I help you unlock your potential. My focus is on empowerment, growth, and self-efficacy.
✅ I create a safe, nonjudgmental space. Whether you’re facing trauma, high stress, or uncertainty, I help you navigate it with clarity and confidence.
✅ I understand high-pressure environments. I have extensive experience working with defense, intelligence, and first responders, helping them manage stress, moral injury, and trauma.
✅ I help you rewrite your story. Through narrative and existential therapy, I assist you in finding meaning, reclaiming agency, and transforming adversity into strength.
If you’re ready to regain control over your thoughts, emotions, and future, I’m here to help.
Let’s Connect
Offering tele-mental health sessions for clients in Indiana
Contact me to schedule a consultation
You don’t have to stay stuck. Change is possible. Let’s build a stronger, more resilient you—together.
Additional areas of focus: Addictions, LGBT, Family conflicts, Grief, Intimacy-related issues, Sleeping disorders, Parenting issues, Anger management, Career difficulties, Coping with life changes, Coaching, Compassion fatigue, ADHD, Aging and geriatric issues, BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture, Blended family issues, Body image, Caregiver issues and stress, Commitment issues, Communication problems, Control issues, Coping with natural or human-caused disaster, Divorce and separation, Family problems, Fatherhood issues, First responder issues, Forgiveness, Guilt and shame, Infidelity, Jealousy, Life purpose, Men's issues, Veteran and Armed Forces Issues, Money and financial issues, Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD, Post-traumatic stress, Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling), Self-love, Sex addiction, Sexuality, Smoking / vaping cessation, Traumatic brain injury, Workplace issues, Young adult issues
Clinical approaches: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Existential Therapy, Jungian Therapy, Mindfulness Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Trauma-Focused Therapy
IN LCSW 34007976A
These quotes represent just a few of the many positive reviews that we have received for Michael Ross. We don't pay anyone to provide their review and they are all made voluntarily. Some people's experience receiving therapy with BetterHelp might be different.
Michael Ross allows you the time to unpack your feelings and asks questions that prompt you to think deeply about why you have the perspective that you do. He allows you to pause on answers that you're not ready to answer fully and doesn't push the issue. He also recognizes you as an individual and reminds you of that true as often as you need.
Written on Mar 15, 2023 after therapy with Michael for 1 year and 3 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, lgbt, relationship issues, family conflicts, sleeping disorders, and coping with life changes