Michele’s Philosophy

Michele believes that being a psychotherapist is a privilege allowing her to participate in the unfolding of another human being in ways neither she nor the other are aware of at the beginning of the process. As Pema Chodron says, “It’s like we are both together in not knowing, which doesn’t feel as bad as not knowing myself.”

As partners in the process, the client and Michele work together to help the client (a) expand awareness of personal resources, and (b) achieve their therapeutic goal.

A patient shouldn’t be in pain a moment longer than they need to be.
…Leigh McCullough Vaillant, PhD, Changing Character

Love After Love

The time will come When, with elation,
You will greet yourself arriving
At your own door, in your own mirror,
And each will smile at the other’s
welcome,
And say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was
yourself. Give wine, Give bread. Give back your
heart
To itself, to the stranger who has loved you.
All your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the
bookshelf,
The photographs, the desperate notes,
Peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

… Derek Walcott

Psychotherapy Experience

During the course of her career, Michele has worked with adults, adolescents, couples, families and groups. Her affiliations include:

  • Yale Psychiatric Institute, an inpatient mental health hospital

  • Hallbrook Hospital, an inpatient mental health hospital

  • Stamford Sexual Assault Crisis and Education Center

  • Family and Childrens Agency, an outpatient family service agency

  • Renfrew Center, devoted to the treatment of eating disorders

  • Milford Mental Health Center, Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Program

Community Leadership

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, in addition to counseling survivors of rape and sexual abuse, Michele served as a Community Educator for the Stamford Sexual Assault Crisis and Education Center. In this role, she presented programs for school-age children in kindergarten through college, school staff, PTA groups, as well as other community organizations and groups about the issues of safety and sexual assault.

She has taught Masters level classes on eating disorders and trauma recovery; and undergraduate level classes in the medical support field.

Also…

  • Co-founded Parents, Let’s Talk, an educational program that supports and coaches parents in positive parenting strategies.

  • Presents the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in corporate and school settings, as well as for individuals and couples.

  • Conducts educational seminars for premarital and married couples on adult romantic love based on the Hold Me Tight program developed by Sue Johnson, PhD, one of the founders of Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples.

  • Conducts seminars on mind body balance and core values and their relationship to stress management using the tools developed by HeartMath, LLC, Boulder City, CA.

  • Coaches individuals in developing an intuitive approach to eating and weight management using the tools and strategies of the Stopping Emotional Eating® program.

Education

Masters Degree in Social Work from Columbia University.
Post graduate certifications include:

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) from the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) from the Center for Self Leadership

  • Gestalt Psychotherapy from the Gestalt Center of Long Island

  • Clinical Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy from the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis

  • Neurolinguistic Programming from the New York Training Institute for NLP

  • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator from Type Resources, Inc.

  • Brainspotting Therapy from Brainspotting Pro

  • Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing from EMDRIA

  • Somatic Experiencing Therapy from SETI

  • HeartMath from HeartMath® Institute

  • Stopping Emotional Eating from HeartMath® Institute

Advanced clinical education and training in the following therapeutic modalities:

  • Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET)

  • Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)

  • Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT)

  • Thought Field Therapy (TFT)

  • Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)