Mark E. Devries, PhD, LP

My goal is to accompany clients as they strive to understand their life story in the hope of writing the rest of it differently.

Specialties

Caregiver Stress - Situational Stress - Relationships

Aging & Retirement - Professional Burnout - Couples Counseling

Sleep difficulties - Anxiety - Depression - Meaning Making

About

I have always been fascinated by the interplay of emotion, cognition, and spirituality. Raised and nurtured in a traditional West Michigan community, my perspective has broadened over the years.  I am a lifelong immersive reader of fiction, history, biography, memoir, poetry, science, nature writing, and spirituality. This has opened me to the great diversity of human experience and has given me an appreciation for each client’s unique life story.

Clinical Approach

Working in the mental health field for many years has led me to the conviction that we are much more than our diagnoses. I believe there are many ways of being in the world. What we view as our pathology is sometimes better understood as the working out of our life story. Psychotherapy offers the opportunity to examine our life story in an open-hearted space where we feel safe enough to look closely at wounds, mistakes, patterns, and idiosyncrasies. In doing this, we learn to make different choices for the future. Psychotherapy both validates and challenges. It is partly about self-acceptance, but it also reveals things we’d rather not see in ourselves. When this happens in an accepting and supportive setting, it can be liberating. 

My work is influenced by psychodynamic theory, mindfulness practice, existential psychology, and the mystical branches of the world’s great spiritual traditions. Ecopsychology (the branch of psychology that emphasizes the importance of our relationship with nature) informs my approach.  I am especially interested in working with clients who are in the process of deconstructing harmful ideologies.

Quote

“Your distress is not a malfunction. It is a signal—a necessary signal.”

—Johann Hari

Who I Work With

My clients are trying to make sense of themselves and their place in the world. They are striving to do their best as caregivers, health care workers, mental health professionals, family members, students, teachers, clergy, citizens, justice advocates, and members of the more-than-human world. They are adults and older adults seeking to age soulfully.

Outside the Office

I enjoy bicycle riding (touring, trail-riding, commuting), strolling in nature, reading, writing, listening to music, conversing, traveling, farmer’s markets, beaches of all kinds, and time with friends. I’m privileged to be the spouse of a strong woman and the father of two strong young women whose companionship I treasure. I practice meditation and yoga with beginner’s mind.

Training & Background

  • BA in Psychology, Calvin College (1980)

  • MA in Counseling Psychology, Western Michigan University, 1987

  • MA in Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1991

  • PhD in Clinical Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1992

  • Pine Rest, Neuropsychology practice, 1992-2002; 2009-2026.

  • Hope Network, Psychotherapy and Neuropsychology practice 2005-2009.

  • HRA, Psychotherapy and Neuropsychology practice 2002-2005.

Connect

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