- Years in practice
- 9
- Credentials
- LPC
- Licensed in
- Michigan
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Stress, Anxiety
- Focus
- Family conflicts
- Focus
- Trauma and abuse
About Michelle
Michelle Bartnik is a licensed professional counselor who helps people facing stress, anxiety, parenting challenges, grief, and major life changes. She works with adults who want clearer routines, steadier moods, or less conflict at home. Michelle speaks plain language and focuses on practical steps that fit everyday life.
She centers sessions around each person's story and strengths, treating clients as the experts on their own lives. Conversations explore what is getting in the way now and what small shifts might make daily life easier.
Background and approach
Goals are concrete and revisited so progress is visible between meetings. Michelle uses techniques drawn from attachment work, client-centered methods, and cognitive behavioral tools to build stronger patterns and coping skills. That mix helps people understand relationship patterns, notice unhelpful thoughts, and try new behaviors that reduce stress.
Sessions include skill practice, problem-solving, and reflection on past experiences that still matter today. Her background includes nine years of counseling experience and licensure as an LPC in Michigan. She has supported people dealing with trauma and abuse, family problems, adoption and foster care concerns, and caregiving stress.
She also helps those managing mood disorders, ADHD, and career changes. Clients can expect straightforward conversation, clear steps between sessions, and help sorting priorities when life feels overwhelming. Michelle aims to make therapy useful and doable for people with busy lives.
What Michelle works with
Everything Michelle lists, in the therapist's own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Michelle helps people with.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Parenting issues
- Depression
- Relationship issues
- Grief
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Michelle lists
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
Online approaches that fit family life and busy schedules
Michelle commonly uses attachment-based ideas to look at how past relationships shape current patterns. This approach helps people see why certain conflicts repeat and focuses on building new, more supported ways of relating. She also draws on client-centered methods that prioritize listening and reflecting back what matters to the client, which helps people clarify their own goals and values. Finally, she uses cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful thoughts and test small behavior changes that reduce anxiety or improve routines.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Michelle treats this as a collaborative process where goals, preferences, and practical needs guide which methods are tried. She will check in together about what is helping and adjust the plan when needed so therapy stays useful and relevant.
Online therapy offers flexibility for people juggling parenting, work, and other demands. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when a deeper exchange is helpful. Phone sessions or shorter live chat and text check-ins work well for quick updates, lower bandwidth, or fitting a session into a lunch break. These options make it easier to keep momentum and practice new skills between meetings.
Questions people ask about Michelle
What kinds of concerns can Michelle help with?
She works with stress, anxiety, parenting concerns, family problems, trauma and abuse, depression, grief, career questions, bipolar disorder, and ADHD among other related issues.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her style is collaborative and down-to-earth. She combines attachment ideas, client-centered listening, and CBT-style skill building to create practical plans.
How much clinical experience does she have?
Michelle has nine years of counseling experience and has worked with people facing a range of mood, relationship, and life-transition issues.
Where is she licensed and based?
She holds the LPC credential, licensed in Michigan, and practices from that state.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English only and international clients are not currently accepted.
What session formats are available?
Therapy is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different needs and schedules.
How does cost and billing work?
Cost varies by location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Begin by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to the therapist's availability.
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