About Michele

Philosophy

A patient shouldn’t be in pain a moment longer than they need to be.

Leigh McCullough Vaillant, PhD, Changing Character

 

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. “It’s like we are both together in not knowing, which doesn’t feel as bad as not knowing myself.” Pema Chodron

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

Psychotherapy Experience

During the course of her career, Michele has served adults, adolescents, couples, families and groups. She has been affiliated with…

  • 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

Michele is in private practice in Norwalk, CT since 1992.  She is licensed by the State of Connecticut Health Department as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and by the Institute of HeartMath® as a 1 to 1 HeartMath® Provider and Stopping Emotional Eating® Provider.

Community Leadership

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, in addition to counseling rape and sexual abuse survivors, 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.

Michele 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.

  • 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

Michele holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from Columbia University.
Michele’s post graduate certifications include:

  • 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.

Advanced clinical education and training in the following therapeutic modalities:

  • Level 2 Trained Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapist (EMDR)

  • Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET)

  • HeartMath® System

  • Stopping Emotional Eating® Program

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy

  • Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy

Advanced clinical education and training in the treatment of

  • Relationship distress

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

  • Dissociation

  • Eating and body image disorders

  • Anxiety and depression

  • Stress induced emotional, physical and relational problems

  • Attachment related developmental deficits