John Boonstra (he/him) is a local counselor, father, and stereotypical middle-aged Traverse City Man (sports a beard, drives a truck, and claims he enjoys biking while never actually seen biking).
John graduated from Northwestern Michigan College in 2001; after graduating from NMC he drove south on 131 to claim his BS degree and then a little further yet for his MA.
He completed his quest of having more letters behind his name than in his name and is now a Certified Prevention Specialist, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and Licensed Professional Counselor – among others.
He works for the Leelanau Family Court as a Prevention Counselor – attempting to spend much of his workday playing four square and hiking.
He is also a counselor at Mental Wellness Counseling, unfortunately, the office is too small for foursquare but there is an excellent hike around the Boardman close by – thanks, TART Trails!
John is excited to share with We Fight; having spent the past decades working with youth and families through children’s crisis teams, in local emergency departments, schools, on the suicide prevention lifeline, and more.
He hopes to one day be remembered as that guy you heard talk about that one thing.
Elevate Northern Michigan is a quarterly summit series focused on boosting knowledge, shifting attitudes, decreasing stigma, and building support for youth mental health by learning about:
- psychology/neuroscience
- practical well-being tools
- leadership skills
Reservation for this mental health summit is free but required as space is limited.
Good Works Lab 