Therese Michels estimates she’s touched the lives of nearly 1,500 people in the 40-plus years she’s worked as a psychoanalyst in the Four Corners.
And at age 91, she’s not about to slow down.
“I like to say I flunked retirement,” Michels said from the living room of her small, quintessential Durango cottage home on the grid.
Michels opened her first office in Durango in 1974 in a building across from what is now a Burger King, 1415 Main Ave. Over time, she built clientele, mostly from word of mouth from patients who had positive experiences in her sessions.
“She has affected the lives of many people in a very unique way,” said Marilynn Monger, a former client and longtime friend of Michels. “People just trust her completely.”
Now, Michels is one of three finalists in Mental Health Colorado’s first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the mental health world and their community.
“Thousands of people in La Plata County have benefited from Therese’s skill, compassion and generosity,” said Andrew Romanoff, president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado. “As one of her clients put it, ‘I am a much more confident, healthy and happy woman because of her counseling.’”
Michels was born in Chicago in 1926 to a Catholic family.
“There was a lot of culture and educational values at that time,” she said. “It was a good place to grow up.”
At age 23, Michels decided to become a nun, joining the Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters, a religious community of women in Huntington, Indiana, that her older sister was also attending.
“I just had a calling,” she said. “I felt very strongly about it.”
Michels spent nearly three decades in the order, mostly based in Indiana and Michigan, as well as New Mexico and Colorado.
However, in the mid-1970s, Michels said there were changes in the Catholic Church that she didn’t agree with, ultimately leading to the church granting a dispensation of vows, which means she was excused of her vows at no fault of her own.
Looking for her next path in life, Michels found Durango and opened her practice. Having earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology, a Master of Arts in religious education and a certification in psychoanalysis, it seemed like the right fit.
In 1980, Michels founded the Colorado Life Work Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to provide affordable services to “foster emotional and spiritual growth and healing,” according to the group’s website.
Monger, a member of the Colorado Life Work Foundation board, said she’s heard Michels charge $5 for a session. And charging nothing wasn’t uncommon either, she said.
Over the years, Michels says she came up with a method to identify repetitive patterns developed during childhood that are sometimes passed down through the generations, which can lead to problems later in life.
Michels will ask a series of questions that work toward identifying that pattern. Once the pattern is identified, it’s easier to work toward a proactive solution. Many of her clients are people in troubled marriages, some of whom are going through divorce.
“These patterns I developed, I think it helped them,” she said. “A lot of analysts can get technical, but these can be applied to everyday life.”
Michels wrote a book about her method that was turned into a DVD series. Through a group of volunteers, Michels also offered individual and group therapy sessions, and a number of workshops.
In 2000, Michels closed her office and entered her so-called flunked retirement.
Even at 91, she sees clients on a regular basis. Looking back at her life and career, she answered confidently that she has met the terms of her calling that she felt at an early age.
“I think it was a calling that took different forms,” she said. “I do have a spiritual part of me that’s very much a part of all this.”
The winner of Mental Health Colorado’s Lifetime Achievement Award will be announced at a ceremony on Oct. 28 in the Denver area.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
