MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY · SYSTEMS CHANGE · PUBLIC LEADERSHIP
The systems meant to help families must start working.
Michael Mackniak, J.D. brings 30+ years of experience at the crossroads of mental health, law, healthcare, caregiving, and community systems. Through his advocacy, the Care Coalition, the Guardian Model™, and the Holding It Together (Kinda) podcast, he turns urgent problems into action.
THE PODCAST
Holding It Together (Kinda)
Unfiltered conversations on mental health, caregiving, recovery, and the systems that shape families’ lives—paired with practical action companions that turn insight into next steps.
PUBLIC LEADERSHIP IN ACTION
30+ Years. 3 Books. A Top 50 Mental Health Podcast. 25+ Action Companions.
A career spent translating hard-won experience into practical tools, informed conversations, and better systems for families, caregivers, and professionals.
Michael Mackniak, J.D. | Building Better Mental Health Systems
For more than 30 years, Michael Mackniak, J.D. has worked where mental-health care, law, hospitals, caregiving, fiduciary responsibility, and community systems collide.
His work is driven by a clear conviction: when every part of a system completes its own task but no one takes responsibility for the whole person, families are left carrying the cost.
Michael is the author of three books, creator of the Guardian Model™, and a leading voice behind the Care Coalition. His Top 50 U…
Saving Melissa: The 7Cs to Cure the Mental Health System
In this much-anticipated book, Attorney Michael Mackniak, co–creator of the Guardian Model for the effective treatment of persons with mental illnesses, describes his parallel struggles with Melissa through the challenging world of mental health services. Mackniak, a young attorney, and his clie…
Character: Become The Person Your Social Media Friends Already Think You Are
Success is within your reach. Do you have the Character to do what it takes to get there? We all have an innate understanding of what it is that we like about other people and what we wish to see in ourselves. The degree to which we are amiable, centered, competent, and a leader of others is a b…
Rethink Recovery
This is a notebook to be used by people in recovery or clinicians who are looking for interesting topics to discuss as recovery group leaders. Carrying this affirmation notebook physically or electronically will allow users to maintain vigilance over their recovery and to memorialize their strug…
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Practical intelligence for families, caregivers, advocates, and leaders: new podcast conversations, action companions, and the ideas shaping better mental-health systems.
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Invite Michael to bring clarity to the conversations that matter: keynotes, panels, podcast conversations, executive briefings, and collaborative work on complex mental-health and caregiving challenges.
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© Michael Mackniak, J.D.