About Max
I’ve been interested in communication since my first year in community college. That’s when I took a public speaking class and actually liked it, even though I was terrified most of the time. I felt those same sparks of energy and aliveness when I started teaching. I find meaning and joy in helping support others’ growth, especially when it results in deep shifts in perspective that transform a person’s relationship to themselves, others, and the world.
As a person, philosopher, and philosophical counselor, I don’t identify with any particular philosophical tradition or school of thought. But I owe a debt of gratitude to a variety of sources that have made me who I am—especially the ancient Greek philosopher and sage, Socrates, and his student, Plato, and his student, Aristotle. I also owe much to the philosophical traditions of Stoicism, Taoism, Confucianism, Neoplatonism, some of the Western medieval philosophers, like Aquinas, as well as some contemporary approaches, like Pragmatism and Virtue Ethics. I also have a growing interest in Indigenous philosophy.
As a philosophical guide, my approach similarly follows no single method. You can, however, expect a dialogue with me to involve deep listening, empathetic attunement, and Socratic inquiry that invites you into deeper awareness about your own thinking, feeling, and action. Contemporary research in philosophy, psychological, and cognitive science has shown what the ancient philosophical traditions already knew—that thinking and feeling are deeply intertwined. So, in dialogue together, we seek to remain open to how thoughts feel and how feelings generate thoughts. All of these qualities of being are part of human existence, and therefore important in philosophical dialogue and reflection.
My Ph.D. (2017) and M.A. (2011) in philosophy are from the University of Oklahoma, and my certification in philosophical counseling is through the American Philosophical Practitioner’s Association (APPA). I’m a founding member of the Philosophical Counseling Working Group, a small band of APPA-certified practitioners committed to ongoing training and the pursuit of excellence in facilitating personal transformation. I’m also a certified Circling® Practitioner, trained by The Circling® Institute. Having graduated from their Art of Circling 8-month intensive training, I’m currently enrolled in their 2-year Circling Facilitator Training, aimed at advanced circling, mentoring, and event facilitation. I also teach philosophy full-time at Fresno City College.