About Michele
Michele Fitzgerald is a licensed professional clinical counselor with 25 years of practice. She began her career in adolescent substance abuse treatment in the 1980s and has worked in varied settings from Kodiak, Alaska to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Michele draws on long experience in substance use and mental health counseling to help people find steadier ground.
She has also worked in adoption and birth parent counseling, hospital social work, and long-term care.
Background and approach
That background informs a practical, straightforward style that focuses on daily coping and real-life problems. Michele views recovery as part of overall wellness and sees setbacks as chances to learn. In sessions she listens closely and helps clients build skills they can use outside of therapy.
She uses conversational methods to address anxiety, depression, stress, addictions, and ADHD-related concerns. The tone is calm and direct, aimed at people who want clear steps and steady support. Michele blends evidence-informed approaches with a client-centered attitude.
She helps people sort priorities, manage emotions, and improve day-to-day functioning. The work often includes developing routines, problem-solving strategies, and ways to handle relationship and family stress. Her aim is to help people feel more capable in their daily lives.
Michele values resilience and practical progress over quick fixes. She is a good match for someone who wants a listener who will also offer concrete tools and steady encouragement.
Approaches that guide online sessions
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding a person's experience. The therapist follows the client's lead, offers empathy, and helps people find their own solutions for problems like stress, relationships, and life changes.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at thoughts, feelings, and behaviors together. It uses practical exercises and steps to reduce anxiety, manage mood, improve sleep, and address ADHD-related routines that get in the way of daily functioning.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, adds skills for managing strong emotions and improving communication. It teaches short tools for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and better interaction with others.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the client about goals and preferences and then try methods that fit those needs. That collaborative planning helps shape a clear path forward rather than a one-size-fits-all program.
Online therapy gives several practical benefits. Video calls let people replicate an in-person session and use visual cues. Phone sessions work when bandwidth or camera use is difficult. Live chat and text-based messaging can provide brief check-ins, quick skill reminders, or flexible supports between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules and to use tools that match how someone prefers to connect.
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- Minnesota
- Languages
- English
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