Michelle Manning is a daredevil. Growing up in rodeo has a tendency to do that to a girl. Especially when that growing environment also includes two parents daring enough to loosen the reins on their little hellion who preferred falling off of bucking animals than the playground swing set. One might consider this to be negligent parenting. Michelle considered this to be the most important lesson her parents could teach.
When afforded the liberty to make your own mistakes, but more importantly, figure out how to recover from those mistakes, one is also afforded a sense of expertise. However, it would be a misnomer to consider Michelle an expert in anything outside of herself. Her expertise lies within.
Preferring the pain of knowledge over the bliss of ignorance, Michelle was always in pursuit to understand herself better, even the parts she didn't like so much. Whether performing stunts on the back of running horses or struggling to recover from the deep-heeled footprint of tragedy on her life, Michelle remained eager to figure out what wasn't working if only to figure out what would next time.
Not content to keep such knowledge to herself, Michelle began her professional writing career as an advice columnist for Albuquerque's weekly culture and events magazine. Yet it wasn't the knowledge of Michelle's personal experiences that compelled her to write. It was her role as an observer to other people's experiences. Finding the inner workings of others just as intriguing as her own operating system. A role that evolved into her role as a therapist.
Always reluctant to consider herself an expert, Michelle builds her therapeutic knowledge base with questions to better understand what keeps people-primarily her clients-from living an authentic life. Such questions are answered through Michelle's observations. Observations she shares in her commentaries, editorials, and essays based on her work as a therapist. Her published pieces such as "Not Every Weapon Has to be a Gun," and "What's So Bad About Being a Slut?" can be found at michellelmanning.com.
In addition to running a successful private practice, Michelle often presents her research in consultation with policy makers and agents of change. She has presented at local and national conferences on the therapeutic value of authentic living, inclusive of sexual orientation and sexual lifestyles.
With too much energy to exhaust, she eagerly shares her observations with those equally daring in passion. She has consulted on sex trafficking with former U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez, and she is a member of the New Mexico Advocacy Coalition and the New Mexico Trafficking Task Force.
More daring work from Michelle L. Manning can be found at michellelmanning.com.