About Michelle
Michelle Goodwater is a licensed mental health counselor in Washington with seven years of experience. She works in a direct, approachable way and focuses on practical steps people can use in everyday life. She aims to treat people with respect and sensitivity while avoiding stigmatizing labels.
Michelle helps people who are coping with anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and abuse, and stress. She also addresses relationship and intimacy-related issues, sleep problems, anger, career concerns, and challenges related to major life changes.
Background and approach
Her practice includes work around self-esteem, compassion fatigue, bipolar challenges, and parenting- and family-related concerns as they affect an individual. Her approach blends several evidence-based methods, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and client-centered therapy.
Sessions focus on clear goals, skills people can use between meetings, and conversations tailored to each person’s needs. Michelle has experience supporting people dealing with abandonment, attachment issues, codependency, communication and control problems, and family of origin concerns. She also addresses issues connected to fertility, cancer, guilt and shame, and feelings of emptiness.
She frames clinical work around practical coping and decision-making. Therapy sessions are offered through video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. Sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
To begin, a person completes a short matching questionnaire and schedules according to therapist availability.
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice painful thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them. It focuses on values-based action and small steps toward a life that matters to the person. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at thinking patterns that contribute to distress and teaches concrete skills to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. These skills often help with anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a trauma-focused method that can reduce the intensity of traumatic memories by pairing focused attention with guided processing.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose or combine methods based on goals, preferences, and the issues at hand. That collaborative process may shift over time as needs change.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility with multiple ways to connect. Video calls allow a face-to-face conversation from wherever someone is. Phone sessions can be useful when bandwidth is limited or for a simpler check-in. Live chat and text-based messaging make it easier to fit brief check-ins into a busy day and to track progress between sessions. These options help make consistent care more manageable around work, family, and travel.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Experience
- 7 years
- Licensed
- Washington
- Languages
- English