About Michelle
Michelle Ely is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who brings a practical, straightforward style to sessions. She works to help people lower stress and anxiety, face past trauma, and handle relationship and parenting challenges. Michelle is based in Alaska and offers help by phone, video, chat, or messaging.
With six years as an LCSW and decades in social work, Michelle draws on a wide base of experience. She uses an eclectic mix of evidence-based therapeutic techniques selected to fit each person's needs.
Background and approach
Sessions are warm, interactive, and direct, with an emphasis on respect and compassion. Michelle helps people manage anger, grief, and intimacy-related concerns. She also supports those dealing with self-esteem, career questions, and major life changes.
Additional focus areas include autism and Asperger Syndrome, blended family issues, caregiver stress, and communication problems. People turn to her for help around divorce and separation, family of origin issues, forgiveness, and guilt or shame. She also works with veterans and women’s issues, and with those facing compassion fatigue or intellectual disability concerns.
Her approach adapts to what matters most to each person. Michelle encourages clients to use their own strengths during therapy. She believes clients know their stories best and that therapy is a collaborative process.
To begin, clients choose the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule sessions according to availability.
Evidence-based approaches and online care
Michelle uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques chosen to meet each person's needs. One common approach focuses on trauma-informed methods that help people process past hurt and reduce symptoms linked to traumatic events. This work often includes learning grounding and coping skills to manage strong emotions.Another frequently used style emphasizes cognitive and behavioral strategies to reduce anxiety and depression. These techniques help identify unhelpful thinking patterns and develop practical skills for everyday situations like stress, anger, and relationship conflicts.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Michelle will listen to your goals and try methods that match what you need. She checks in about how techniques feel and adjusts the plan so it fits your preferences and life circumstances.
Online therapy gives practical flexibility. Video calls let you see facial expressions and have a deeper conversation. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging offer brief, on-the-go support for follow-ups, coping between sessions, or when typing feels easier. Together these options make it simpler to fit therapy into a busy life.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Parenting issues
Also works with
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Self esteem
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Experience
- 6 years
- Licensed
- California, Alaska
- Languages
- English