About Michelle
Michelle Bartnik is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) based in Michigan. She works with people who are dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship strain, parenting challenges, trauma and ADHD. Michelle approaches each person with respect and practical support so they can make manageable changes.
Michelle believes people are experts in their own lives and brings a collaborative stance to sessions. She listens for strengths and patterns, then helps clients test small changes that build confidence over time.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on realistic steps that fit everyday life rather than abstract theory. Her approach blends attachment-based ideas with cognitive behavioral tools and client-centered listening. That mix can help when past relationships shape current worries or when negative thinking gets in the way of daily functioning.
Motivational interviewing and narrative work are also used to help people clarify goals and reframe difficult stories. Michelle has nine years of clinical experience working with a wide range of concerns. She has spent time supporting people through family conflict, parenting stress, adoption and attachment issues, and coping with major life changes.
Her background includes helping with mood conditions such as bipolar disorder and co-occurring issues. People who choose Michelle often want practical strategies and a respectful, down-to-earth therapist. Sessions aim to reduce overwhelm, improve communication, and help clients take steady steps toward the life they want.
She conducts therapy in English and practices in Michigan.
How Michelle’s approach works online
Michelle blends attachment-based ideas with cognitive behavioral techniques and a client-centered way of working. Attachment-based work looks at how past relationships shape how people connect today and can help with issues like trust, communication, and feeling understood. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors to reduce anxiety and improve mood. Client-centered therapy emphasizes hearing the client's perspective, validating feelings, and following the client’s priorities.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Michelle will listen to goals and try different tools together to see what fits. She aims to collaborate on a plan that matches the client’s needs, pace, and everyday demands rather than imposing a single method.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video is useful for face-to-face conversation and learning new skills. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth or camera use is limited. Live chat and text allow shorter check-ins and ongoing reflection between sessions. These options help people fit therapy into busy lives and keep momentum between appointments.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 9 years
- Licensed
- Michigan
- Languages
- English
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