Michelle Stevens
Hi there, I’m Michelle. I’m a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in Virginia, Maine, Vermont and California. I'm also a Certified Perinatal Mental Health Provider (PMH-C) and specialize in working with people who are pregnant, in the postpartum period who are experiencing
I enjoy working with individuals that are motivated to gain insight into how their thoughts influence their feelings, behavior, and relationships.
depression or anxiety, or people who are dealing with birth trauma or infertility. I also work with first responders with PTSD/trauma and individuals who are dealing with chronic pain from conditions (such as endometriosis, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome). I’m passionate about helping clients feel empowered and becoming more comfortable with advocating for themselves and their needs.
First session
In our first session, we'll complete an initial assessment, talk about goals and make sure we are a good fit for one another. We'll be able to get to know each other a little better and I'll be able to answer any questions that you may have. The first session isn't really therapy as much as it is an information gathering session, but I try to make it as painless as possible.
Strengths
My biggest strengths are cultivating a safe therapeutic environment, developing a realistic plan for progress, and offering clients deeper insight into their feelings and behaviors. It is important to me that I'm able to normalize the experiences my clients are having so that they feel less alone.
Ideal clients
I enjoy working with individuals who are committed to developing healthy coping skills, improving their relationships, and are on a path to reclaiming their confidence. My clients are often dealing with challenges related to adjustment, role transitions, or are working through establishing healthier family dynamics.
Treatment methods
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic approach that I use in my practice to reprocess traumatic memories, shame, and anxiety with the goal of minimizing distress over time. EMDR helps clients work through overwhelming distress that feels "stuck" and manage their daily lives better while reducing trigger responses.
Cognitive Processing (CPT)
I treat client's diagnosed with PTSD with Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), which is an evidence-based treatment that targets symptoms and unhelpful thinking patterns that are a direct result of the experienced trauma. CPT is generally short-term (9-15 sessions) and can reduce the avoidance and re-experiencing that are markers of a PTSD diagnosis.
Interpersonal
I utilize Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) to help perinatal clients improve functioning and alleviate symptoms associated with depression. Clients who can benefit from IPT are experiencing postpartum depression and difficulty adjusting to role transitions, grief & loss, or interpersonal disputes.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
DBT skills are so helpful if clients want to learn better distress tolerance skills, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. I use DBT to help those who tend to feel overwhelmed quickly, have difficulty coming down from their emotions, and want to learn better ways of handling distress without reacting impulsively.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I help clients recognize unhelpful/unhealthy thought patterns and we explore how to reframe and challenge those ideas. We work together to develop healthier self-talk, effective communication skills, and overall self-kindness. Many clients need support navigating the pitfalls of postpartum anxiety, depression, and trauma that interfere with their daily lives. CBT can be adapted to fit most client preferences and is extremely helpful in reducing suffering.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
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Serves
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Licensed in
- CaliforniaLicense 115286
- MaineLicense MF7716
- VermontLicense 100.0134433
- VirginiaLicense 0717002639