About Michael
Michael Masters is a licensed clinical social worker who uses practical, person-focused therapy to help people manage painful life moments. He draws on five years of clinical practice in New York and listens for the values that matter most to each person. Sessions are straightforward and aimed at helping people take steps that feel achievable in everyday life.
He blends several approaches to match what a person needs. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps clients name values and act on them.
Background and approach
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going. Client-Centered methods create space for someone to speak freely and be heard. Michael has background as a community organizer and spent years working with people affected by systemic conflicts.
That experience shaped his focus on trauma, abuse, and stress. He also supports people facing grief, relationship struggles, addiction, and career or parenting strain. People come for help with anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and coping with big life changes.
Other areas he addresses include compassion fatigue, commitment issues, attachment concerns, and chronic illness or caregiving stress. He also works with matters related to sexual expression, adoption and foster care, and blended family dynamics. Sessions are available in English and offered in formats that fit different schedules.
Michael accepts international clients and aims to help people find practical, compassionate ways forward using evidence-informed methods.
Therapeutic approaches suited to online work
The practice uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people clarify what matters and take small steps toward those values. ACT is useful when someone feels stuck by worry, rumination, or avoidance and wants to act differently without waiting to feel better first.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is used to spot thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and to build concrete coping skills. CBT is often helpful for anxiety, depression, and stress when people want practical techniques to try between sessions.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist collaborates with each person to choose methods that match their goals and preferences. That means trying strategies, checking what helps, and adjusting the plan together over time.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different routines. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation for skills practice and deeper dialogue. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text messaging work for quick check-ins, shorter coaching-style exchanges, and for people who communicate better in writing. These formats make it easier to schedule therapy around work, caregiving, or travel while keeping the focus on progress and practical tools.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does Michael address?
What is his therapeutic style like?
How much clinical experience does he have?
What are his credentials and where is he based?
Which languages and international options are available?
What session formats does he offer?
How does pricing and payment work?
How do I begin working with him?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Stress, Anxiety
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 5 years
- Licensed
- New York
- Languages
- English