About Michelle
Michelle Spencer helps people who are coping with stress, anxiety, trauma, mood struggles, and issues with self-esteem. She supports those facing career pressure, relationship strain, grief, addiction concerns, and problems with focus and motivation. Michelle is a licensed mental health counselor - LMHC - and also holds LPCC credentials in Minnesota and New York.
She has twelve years of professional experience. Michelle keeps conversations direct and respectful. Sessions focus on practical steps that people can use between meetings.
Background and approach
She adapts her approach to each person's needs and goals rather than using the same plan for everyone. The tone is compassionate while staying action-oriented. Her work draws on client-centered methods that prioritize the person's own perspective.
She also uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help identify and change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. When emotions run high or impulsivity shows up, she incorporates strategies from dialectical behavior work to build coping skills and emotional regulation. Michelle also brings motivational interviewing when people feel stuck or ambivalent about change.
That helps people find their own reasons to move forward and make decisions that match their values. Together, therapist and client set small, realistic steps and track progress. People who reach out can expect straightforward conversations about what’s bothering them and clear ideas for next steps.
Michelle works with adults and young adults on life transitions, caregiving stress, workplace challenges, and recovery-oriented goals. She offers sessions that fit modern schedules and routines.
Approaches that translate well to online therapy
Client-centered therapy centers the person's own goals and experiences, making sessions focused on what matters most to the individual. This approach helps people feel heard and guides the work toward practical changes that fit their life. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is about spotting unhelpful thoughts and actions and replacing them with patterns that support better mood and functioning. CBT works well for anxiety, depression, and stress because it gives concrete tools to practice between sessions.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Michelle will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. That might mean starting with client-centered conversation, adding CBT tools, or using emotion-regulation skills from dialectical behavior strategies when needed. The plan can change as progress is made.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to offer flexibility. Video lets people use visual cues during deeper sessions, phone calls can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited, live chat is useful for brief check-ins, and text messaging supports ongoing, in-the-moment coaching and reminders. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy days and to keep momentum between meetings.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- Minnesota, New York
- Languages
- English