Brian Mulder received his BA in Biology and Education from Hope College and his Master of Arts in Counseling from Spring Arbor University. He completed his counseling internship at the Fountain Hill Center for Counseling and Consultation in Grand Rapids. There, he received mentoring and training from Randy Flood, psychotherapist and Director of the Men’s Resource Center of West Michigan, and Al Heystek, a therapist with the Men’s Resource Center and an ordained clergy person. Brian’s interest and abilities in working with men were heightened during his internship experience as he counseled a wide array of men dealing with sexual functioning issues, anxiety, depression, past trauma, relationship struggles, substance use, spiritual confusion, and life transitions.
Prior to his career in counseling, Brian’s life and work experiences broadened his perspective on human experience and the range of what it may look like to live a meaningful and healthy life, particularly as a man. His previous work largely focused on empowering young men to establish deep connections with each other and their communities—encouraging creative expression, vulnerability, and the development of a rich inner life. He’s been a teacher, community youth worker, artist, builder, house-painter, and guitar instructor.
Early in his professional career, Brian worked with churches and community organizations serving teens, young adults, and families while focusing on mentoring and supporting young men. He then went on to pursue creative endeavors such as starting a small business doing custom woodwork and touring the U.S. and Europe while performing music as part of an intimate living room concert series. He has also pursued pilgrimage-like adventures: crossing the United States on a bicycle and traversing the breadth of Michigan and Spain on foot.
Now, at the Men’s Resource Center, Brian utilizes an holistic and eclectic approach to counseling, informed by an existential framework that puts the client’s experiences and search for meaning at the forefront of therapy while incorporating mindfulness practices, trauma-informed care, and creativity into the therapeutic relationship. He seeks to not only help his clients to reduce symptoms, but to assist them in harnessing challenges as an opportunity to build an increased sense of self, connection, and meaning.
Whether providing online or in-person counseling to individuals, couples, or men’s support groups, Brian strives to listen deeply to his clients and walk alongside them in their journey towards wholeness. He believes that a therapeutic conversation is a sacred space and strives to enter into his clients’ reality with them. At the forefront of his varied work and experience is a love for people and a passion for supporting men.
Brian currently leads Transformations, the Men’s Resource Center’s comprehensive sex and pornography addiction treatment program, a program he co-facilitated with Al Heystek during his internship at Fountain Hill. He looks forward to developing his practice and expanding it to further assist men in addressing trauma, exploring creative opportunities, and establishing an expanded and inclusive understanding of spirituality.