Michael Gilkey
I have been working in the mental health field since 2014, starting off working with kids in the home, school, and community in various capacities. In 2020, I graduated with my masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and started working predominantly with adults.
I am most familiar with personality disorders, mood disorders, and psychotic disorders and have built a plethora of skills, knowledge, and resources to help target these concerns.
For 6 years, I worked in an adult mental health residential facility where I was able to gather some great exposure working with people with mood, psychotic, and personality disorders in an acute setting. To put it bluntly, I am not intimidated by much. I was able to start my practice in 2025 and am now able to do this full time. I have build a plethora of skills, knowledge, and resources to target many different concerns across the mental health spectrum. I have always been friends with the people who need one and my goal throughout life has always been to help improve the quality of life for those around me. My aim is to help you to feel better about yourself and your life, finding where you have control in life and circumstances, and how you can use that to feel more in confident and satisfied in your life.
First session
The first session will often be information gathering and rapport building. I want you to feel comfortable with who you are working with, and so we will spend some time getting to know each other. We will identify what goals you want to work toward and develop a treatment plan. I want to know a bit about what has been going on from your perspective to get a better idea of how I can best help you. If applicable, I might assign you a bit of homework to kick off working toward some of your goals, depending on what they are. This would be part of the accountability that I will be pushing in taking an active role in reaching and attaining your goals and the better quality of life that you seek.
Strengths
My greatest strength is that I have had the opportunity to grow and foster an eclectic knowledge base and experience. I've worked with various concerns from Autism Spectrum disorder, mood disorders, personality disorders, psychotic disorders, etc. I always love learning and so I'm constantly gathering any more knowledge and understanding that I can. Lastly, I would say that one of my biggest strengths in my approach is that I value genuineness. I use humor and really focus on building a strong therapeutic rapport. I will always bring to you who I am and will act like (and therefore treat you like) a real person. I value the connections that we make and see this as part of the driving force for change, so you will always get the real, honest me.
Ideal clients
It's easy to say that any therapist would dream about clients who are independently motivated for their own wellness and goals. While I can't say this isn't true for me as well, I have an extensive history of working with people who might be motivated for things to be better, but struggle to push themselves to make the changes to make this happen. I aim to help bridge the gap between desire and reality. Change is often a scary thing for most people, even good change. It's unfamiliar. It's unpredictable. It's scary. But together, we can help to make the push to move toward your goals. It might be uncomfortable at times, but that's where real change happens. If you are willing to accept being held accountable and pushed toward the things that you want for yourself, even if sometimes you push back in defense, then we will be a good match. I am going to advocate for you and your goals, even when you might be more avoidant or anxious. We will get through it together.
Treatment methods
Reality Therapy
Reality therapy looks at what choices you are making to try to meet various needs in your life, namely survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun. We will explore how what choices you make try to meet these needs effectively or ineffectively, as well as how you can make choices that lead you to feel more empowered and to meet these needs more effectively, leading to a better quality of life.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT focuses on your thoughts and behaviors and how these impact your emotional experiences. In sessions, we will evaluate your thoughts for any distorted patterns, challenging unrealistic or unhelpful thoughts, and identifying behavioral strategies to support more desirable emotional experiences to help build a better and more satisfied life.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
DBT is a very skills based treatment. It involves four main components including mindfulness (being aware in the moment), distress tolerance (improving how much stress and adversity you can manage without feeling totally overwhelmed), emotion regulation (being able to manage the tough emotions when they arise), and interpersonal effectiveness (getting what you want or need out of social interactions). I can help to teach these skills to get better control over intense emotions and hopefully help decrease some impulsive actions.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
I see each person as the expert of their own experiences, and therefore will provide the space to express problems as you see them. I promote the use of unconditional positive regard, which means that while I may not always agree with certain choices, I see you as separate from your choices and will continue to value and support you as a person throughout the process.
Location
Virtual sessions
In-person sessions1022A N Main St Ext, Butler, PA 16001
Identifies as
Top specialties
Other specialties
Licensed in
- PennsylvaniaLicense PC018621