Meet Mike Hotz
Founder & President, Semper Fi Counseling, Inc.
MA, LPC, LIMHP
Mike Hotz is the Founder and President of Semper Fi Counseling, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating meaningful change in the way individuals with serious mental illness are treated within the behavioral health and correctional systems.
With more than three decades of experience in counseling and behavioral health, Mike brings a unique combination of clinical experience, professional training, and firsthand understanding of the challenges faced by individuals struggling with mental illness, trauma, substance use, and involvement with the criminal justice system.
Mike began working in the substance abuse counseling field in 1992 and became a Licensed Professional Counselor in 2015. Throughout his career, he has remained committed to one fundamental belief: people should have an opportunity to heal, recover, and rebuild their lives rather than simply being defined by their illness or their past.
That belief became the foundation for Semper Fi Counseling.
Mike founded Semper Fi Counseling to develop a community-based alternative for individuals with serious mental illness who might otherwise cycle repeatedly through jails, prisons, hospitals, and emergency services. His vision is to provide a safe, structured, therapeutic environment where individuals can receive appropriate mental health care while developing the skills, confidence, responsibility, and support necessary to successfully return to their communities.
Under Mike’s leadership, Semper Fi Counseling is working toward a model that combines mental health treatment, recovery, accountability, vocational development, life skills, peer support, and community reintegration. The goal is not simply to manage symptoms, it is to help people build lives worth living.
Mike’s professional philosophy is straightforward:
“We can’t change someone’s past, but we can help them build a different future.”
As Founder and President, Mike is committed to building partnerships with families, behavioral health providers, law enforcement, corrections, courts, healthcare organizations, community leaders, and other stakeholders who share the belief that recovery and rehabilitation are possible.
Semper Fi Counseling represents more than an organization to Mike. It represents a commitment to service, dignity, accountability, recovery, and hope—and to finding a better way forward for some of the most vulnerable individuals in our communities.
The Pattern Mike Saw
Over the years, Mike became increasingly concerned about a pattern he saw too often:
- A person experiences a mental-health crisis.
- They enter a hospital, jail, or other institution.
- They eventually leave.
- They return to the same circumstances without adequate support.
- The crisis happens again.
Mike believes Wyoming can do better.
Why Semper Fi?
The name Semper Fi represents commitment.
It means remaining committed when things become difficult.
That is the commitment Mike wants Semper Fi Counseling to make to the people it serves:
We don’t give up on people simply because recovery is difficult.
The goal is not to remove accountability.
The goal is to combine accountability, treatment, dignity, responsibility, and opportunity so individuals have a realistic chance to succeed.
A Wyoming Solution
Mike’s vision is to establish an 8–10 bed community-based residential treatment and reintegration program in Torrington, Wyoming.
The goal is to create a place where individuals can stabilize, receive treatment, learn practical skills, reconnect with others, and prepare to return to the community with a plan for success.
“I believe we can do better than simply waiting for someone to fail again. We can give people the tools and support they need to succeed.”
Mike Hotz, MA, LPC, LIMHP
Founder & President
Semper Fi Counseling, Inc.
