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Approaches

The tools we’ll use together.

Every approach I use has research behind it. Which ones we lean on depends on you: what you’re working on, how you like to work, and what is helping.

Schedule a free 15-minute consultation
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Forward-focused

Solution-Focused Therapy

We start with what you want your life to look like and what is already working. Small, specific steps build momentum quickly.

Often helpful for: Feeling stuck, life transitions, burnout

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Deeper understanding

Psychodynamic Therapy

We look at how early relationships and old patterns still shape the way you react, love, and choose today. Knowing the why is what makes change hold.

Often helpful for: Repeating relationship patterns, divorce, self-worth

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Mind and body

Somatic Therapy

Stress lives in the body as much as the mind. Grounding, breath, and body awareness help your nervous system settle, so calm becomes something you can feel.

Often helpful for: Anxiety, panic, tension, feeling on edge

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Practical skills

CBT & DBT Skills

Concrete tools for anxious thoughts and big emotions: spotting thinking traps, riding out urges, and staying steady under pressure.

Often helpful for: Anxiety, overthinking, big emotions

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Values and acceptance

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Less fighting with hard feelings, more room for what matters. ACT helps you live by your values, even on the days anxiety tags along.

Often helpful for: Anxiety, perfectionism, big life changes

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Inner parts

Parts Work

Informed by internal family systems, we get to know the protective parts of you, like the inner critic or the people pleaser, with curiosity and compassion.

Often helpful for: The inner critic, people pleasing, mixed feelings

How we choose what fits

In our first sessions, we look at what you want to change and how you like to work. Some people want concrete tools right away. Others want to understand where a pattern started before they try to change it. Most of my clients get a blend of both, and we adjust as we go.

Along the way, I use brief, research-backed check-ins like the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, short questionnaires for mood and anxiety, so we can both see what is changing.

Also in my toolkit

I also draw on emotionally focused and compassion-focused approaches, and on motivational interviewing, a way of working through the part of you that wants change and the part that isn’t sure yet. If something isn’t helping, we change it.

Related support

Anxiety TherapyFor the mind that won’t turn off Divorce TherapyFor the transition that reshapes everything Self-Worth & Burnout RecoveryFor the one who has been holding it all together
Let's talk

An hour a week where your mind gets to put it all down.

Schedule a free 15-minute consultation. You ask your questions, I explain how I work, and you decide from there.

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Call or text: 941-500-9229 Email: Michelle@michelleramseycounseling.com