About Michelle
Michelle DeFino is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who helps people facing anxiety, depression, relationship strain, grief, and substance-related concerns. She offers straightforward support for daily stress, anger, low self-esteem, and life transitions. Michelle practices in New York and conducts sessions in English.
Michelle uses practical, skills-based methods in sessions. She draws on client-centered techniques to build a respectful, collaborative space where people set their own goals. She uses cognitive behavioral tools to identify unhelpful thinking and try new patterns of behavior.
Background and approach
Dialectical behavior therapy skills and mindfulness exercises are added when emotional regulation and staying present are priorities. Her work often focuses on coping strategies for caregiving stress, aging and geriatric concerns, codependency, and communication problems. Michelle also supports people dealing with trauma, impulsivity, financial stress, and social anxiety.
She aims for simple, usable steps clients can try between sessions. Michelle has three years of clinical experience and holds LCSW credentials in New Jersey and New York. She lists NJ LCSW 44SC05618700 and NY LCSW 090260-01 as license details.
Her background includes work with substance use and co-occurring conditions and with re-entry support programs. Sessions are offered via video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. Michelle uses a subscription model for sessions that can be canceled at any time.
To begin, people complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule according to therapist availability.
Approaches that translate to online therapy
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and making room for each person's goals. It emphasizes empathy and collaboration so the therapist follows the client’s priorities and helps shape the plan around what matters most.Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It involves practical exercises and short experiments to try new ways of thinking and behaving, which can help with anxiety, depression, and stress.
Dialectical behavior therapy, DBT, teaches skills for managing difficult emotions and improving relationships. It includes grounding and distress-tolerance techniques that can be useful for strong mood shifts, impulsivity, and anger.
Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. Together they decide which techniques to try and test adjustments as they go.
Online therapy makes these methods easier to fit into life. Video calls let the therapist and client use visual cues and practice skills in real time. Phone sessions can be a good shorter check-in or work when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging support quick check-ins, skill practice between sessions, and flexible communication when scheduling is tight.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Addictions
- Grief
- Anger management
Also works with
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Impulsivity
- Money and financial issues
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 3 years
- Licensed
- New Jersey, New York
- Languages
- English